Haunted
by Anterrabae
Summary: For those on both sides of the war, the real battle is not for the fate of the world, but for their own souls. Sometimes the greatest terror is simply facing who you are, what you've done, and what you can become. COMPLETED!
1. Welcome to DC

"Come on," Alexandra Harper pleaded with a coy smile.

The man smiled back at her, raising one eyebrow. When she had spotted him coming up the escalator from the metro station, his eyes had been the same blue-green color of the Caribbean Sea, but now they were darkened with desire. Warm and inviting, with just a touch of mysteriousness, they tried to lure her in.

Her mouth went dry as her breath caught in her throat. She needed to get this done. Now.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked playfully.

She leaned into him and let her fingers draw a lazy pattern over his chest, if only to give her trembling hands something to do. Grasping his silk tie, she pulled his head down to her so that she could whisper in his ear. "I'll show you."

He shivered and she sighed in awe. This man had seduced dozens of women, prided himself on being a "fuck-em-and-leave-em" type, and now he was utterly at her mercy. When she drew him forward, he readily followed her past the row of shops to the alley behind them. She should be enjoying this, but the truth was that she hated playing this role of the teenage seductress—the little Lolita with black, spiral curls. She would gladly use his ugly, expensive tie to drag him by force to some secluded place, but it had been three days since she'd last fed and she simply didn't have the strength.

The alley was empty and lit only by the pale moonlight. Deliberately, she backed him into the shadows and up against the wall. "Get down on your knees," she purred.

He lifted his eyebrow at her again. "Shouldn't that be my line?"

Alexandra gritted her teeth, barely holding on to her smile. This was taking too long. She felt itchy, on the verge of desperation. "Come on, baby. I promise this will be fun."

The man chuckled and did as she asked, even though kneeling on the damp pavement would ruin the pants of his five thousand dollar suit. While he was looking away, she craned her head to peer back at the mouth of the alley to make sure that no one was watching them. The sight of a thirty-something year-old man alone in a darkened alley with a young teenage girl was something that tended to draw attention.

His hands came up around her waist, slipping under the hem of her blue satin shirt. "You are one kinky bitch, aren't you?"

"Shhhh." She ran her fingers through his thick, brown hair now that she could reach his head without having to stand on her tiptoes. "No more talking." Gently, she guided his head to the side and leaned down until her lips grazed the side of his neck. Then she fisted a handful of his hair and she sank her lengthened canines into his throat. The man tried to scream, but she reached around with her free hand and clamped it over his mouth.

His blood was rich and it went straight to her head, making her slightly dizzy as she struggled to hold him still. She felt his pulse throb against her lips as she drank and when it reached the exact tempo that she needed, she released her fangs and let him fall to the ground.

_Now, now, now!_

Straddling his body, she clenched his chin in one hand and laid her other hand over his forehead, forcing him to look at her. He was weak now and blood still spurted from the wounds on his neck, but it would be a few minutes before he died.

As she stared into his sea-green eyes, the power inside of her refused to be restrained any longer. All vampires had the ability to read a human's thoughts, but Alexandra left those thoughts at the surface and dove down into the depths of the man's soul. It swallowed her whole—everything he'd ever felt and everything he'd ever been. She saw the people who darted and flowed through his life. She saw the surge of love and the crash of despair. Every tide and current leading him to this moment, to this petite, seemingly delicate girl whose clear blue eyes were suddenly all he could see.

_Oh God_. The release was so intense that it was almost painful. But as always, as soon as the pain ebbed, something else swelled within her: the desire to destroy. She needed to hurt this man, to use what she had gleaned from his mind against him, to watch his soul crumble to dust.

But it was too late; Alexandra had time it perfectly. Before the compulsion could grow beyond her control, she witnessed the single, fleeting moment when the man's breath and heartbeat were one and the last of his essence slipped away. She was left staring into his dead eyes.

Drawing back into a crouch, she exhaled a trembling breath and tried not to cry. The man had died, but he hadn't suffered. Her power had risen, but she hadn't hurt anyone with it. She had upheld the precarious balance between her own self and the monster that lived inside of her.

Still, she hated herself.

"You shouldn't leave yourself open like this," a deep voice said behind her. "Any clod could come up behind you, ready to stake you, and you wouldn't even hear them."

She turned sharply toward the vampire who was standing at the entrance of the alley and her heart stopped. But then she realized that he hadn't seen anything and her smile reappeared, masking the pain that she would never dare to reveal. "Shut the hell up, Tristan," she laughed as she got to her feet. "You're going to ruin my buzz."

Her companion crossed his arms, glancing down at the man on the ground, and then he looked back at Alexandra. "How many is that for you?" he asked.

"One," she replied carefully.

He sighed and shook his head. "God, I can kill five in the time it takes you to do one."

She walked over to him and gave him a playful poke in the side. "Excuse me if I don't go tearing into one after another like a college freshman binge drinking at a frat party."

"Lex, my love, have I ever told you that you are a hopeless bitch?" he asked, gently tugging on a ringlet of her hair.

"And have I ever told you, Tristan, that you are a tasteless fuck?" she replied sweetly.

They turned out onto Connecticut Avenue and Lex winced. The night sky had melted into the deep blue twilight, which meant that the sun would rise in a few minutes. It was going to be another unseasonably warm day in Washington, D.C.

Tristan laughed and flashed his arrogant, beautiful smile. "I think you are mistaking me for someone who doesn't have a closet full of Armani and Kenneth Cole."

She rolled her eyes. "Darling, you mistake taste for materialism."

"Oh sure, you criticize me now. But let's see what happens next time you break a heel off of one of your Ciuti shoes."

"I suppose you would just buy me another pair," Lex answered dully. "You're the one who is always begging me to wear them."

"Mmm, yeah. Your calves look so delicious in them," he purred.

She snorted. "Always the glutton."

Her barb must have struck a nerve, because he didn't return it. Instead, his smile slipped away and she could sense that he was debating whether or not to say something. When he opened his mouth and took a deep breath, she tensed because she knew what was coming. "You really need to feed more."

He was looking at her, but Lex stared straight ahead. "I'm fine," she assured him tiredly. "I _just_ fed."

"You're not fine," he argued. "You're not supposed to go three, four, five days without blood. I don't understand—"

"Please don't start this again." She tried to keep the note of desperation out of her voice, but it escaped anyways. "Please."

He sighed in frustration. This was an old argument and he knew where it would lead. After a long moment, he said, "I don't want to hurt you, Lex."

"Then, don't." Such a simple request, but she knew Tristan could hear the plea underlying it. She couldn't tell him what he wanted to know, even after all of this time, and it stung him.

They walked in an uncomfortable silence for a few blocks. This early, the streets were still fairly empty and Alexandra found it eerie. It was so unlike New York or Los Angeles, which seemed to be packed with humans at all hours.

They had been traveling for months before coming to D.C., sweeping back and forth across the country. The day after they'd arrived in Washington, however, Tristan had secured a townhouse in Georgetown and had begun ordering furniture from online catalogues. That night, as they had lain side-by-side on their new bed, staring up at the ceiling, he'd whispered, "We're home."

Lex didn't feel the same connection to this city that he did, but she understood it. It was how she used to feel every time she stepped into the hot sand on the Atlantic coast, back before she had been changed into a vampire.

"Do you like it here?" Tristan asked her lightly. "Do you mind that we're staying?"

He'd read her thoughts, which made her shudder inwardly, but she tried to ignore it. She knew that he was trying to change the subject as a sort of peace offering. "I'm happy if you are," she replied with a warm smile.

He slipped his arm around her shoulders, which was always a little awkward because he was nearly a foot taller than she was, and gave her a peck on top of her head. "Thank you."

Lex shrugged slightly, putting a little room between them. "Let's go back to the house," she suggested. "The sun will be up soon."

"We can't. We've got to meet Angie at Dupont at six."

"What? Why?" Alexandra gasped.

Tristan looked at her curiously. "Because she told us to," he said flatly. "So unless you want the whole D.C. Night World on our ass, along with vamps from any other cities she has connections with…"

"I get it," she snapped, raking her fingers through her hair. "Shit. Why didn't you warn me about this?"

"Lex, get a grip." He stood before her, touched her face soothingly. "I didn't want you freaking out all night. She's just another egotistical, Night World governor."

"She's worse than that," she whispered, keeping her eyes trained on the buttons of Tristan's shirt.

He shook his head. "You always do this. Every time we have to meet with anyone from the Night World, you completely lose it."

"You weren't there." Lex couldn't keep the hysteria out of her voice. "You don't know what she did to me!"

"Of course I don't! You never told me!" he snapped back at her. Then he softened, "Look, baby, we don't really have a choice. I'll be right there with you this time. Have I ever let you down before?"

"No." That was her job.

He gave her a reassuring smile and put his arms around her, holding her against his chest. But after a minute, she felt him move to look at his watch behind her back. "We've got to go."

Her stomach turned, but Lex just nodded.

The morning twilight paled as they walked towards Dupont Circle and she felt a familiar longing. She missed the sun more than anything—the way the white light had filtered through her curtains in the morning, the warmth that had blanketed her skin in the summer, and the energy that had filled every cell in her body with life. Sunlight didn't kill vampires, as many humans believed, but since she'd been changed, it had become harsh and blinding. It weakened her until she was forced into the shadows, squinting to catch a glimpse of humans in the light…feeling robbed.

When they reached the traffic circle, Alexandra stopped before crossing the street and let Tristan continue on by himself.

The vampire called Angie Catellini stood before the escalator that lead down to the metro platform. The glow of her cigarette accented the fiery color of her hair, lips, and shimmering shadow over her eyes. She took a drag and smiled as Tristan walked up to her. "Glad you decided to show up," she said as the yellowish smoke wisped around her.

"I thought it would be in our best interest," he replied.

Lex crept a little closer so that she could hear them more clearly, but she still kept as much distance as possible between herself and the Night World leader. "Damn right it is," Angie said with a smile. "Are you enjoying my city?"

"Despite the abundance of politician blood, yes."

"It doesn't suit you?"

"Oh, it's nice to watch them die, but they taste a tad bitter."

Taking another drag, Angie nodded towards Alexandra. "What's wrong with your girl?"

"Nothing," Tristan replied silkily, "she just doesn't like cigarettes."

Angie laughed shortly. "It's not going to kill her."

"No, but it smells like shit."

Lex felt momentarily amazed that Tristan could look so steadily at the blazing vampire before him, that his voice still carried his arrogance and stubbornness in the face of such power.

The red-haired vampire threw her cigarette on the sidewalk pointedly and crushed it with her boot. And then Alexandra heard her low, husky voice call, "Come on, Soul Stealer! Let's take a ride!"

* * *

The room was enveloped in a suffocating softness, from the heavy down comforter that was spread over the bed to the plush carpet under Reece Cahill's boots. He paced noiselessly back and forth over it, gritting his teeth. Back in Canada before a mission he'd been known to walk for hours outside, feeling the strength of the earth and the other Elements flood him, clearing his head. But here on the 18th underground floor of Circle Daybreak's compound outside Washington, D.C., the Elements seemed beyond his reach. He was separated from the earth by a five-foot thick concrete wall, the air pouring from a vent near the ceiling was mechanically perfect, the water had been purified and chemically treated, and Reece had not felt sunlight in four days. The persistent buzzing from the overhead fluorescent lights pushed his nerves to the breaking point.

At the soft knock on his door, Reece snapped, "What?"

A tall, blonde girl entered and he felt a wry smile tug at his lips in spite of himself. Her long hair was coiled at the back of her head and she wore pale blue flannel pajamas and Tweety slippers on her feet.

"Beth, how did you ever get into this business?" he sighed.

"I like the hours," the girl replied dryly.

"So, is that what you're going to wear when this all goes down?"

She crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "Well, the Nightworld would never see me coming, would they? And I have five stakes hidden under the flannel, so don't mock me."

"Any places you'd care to share?"

"Trade secrets," Beth replied. She pulled out the desk chair and straddled it, resting her chin on the back of it. "What are you doing up, Reece?"

He answered with a glare.

"We won't be called up for another few hours," the girl continued. "You need to rest."

"I can't rest in this prison," he growled.

"Prison?" Beth snorted. "This place is like the god damn Plaza."

"Screw the luxury, I need some real light and air."

"God, Cahill, it's for our own safety." Her hazel eyes widened in exasperation. "You know what's going on out there. And in here."

Reece turned away from her and sighed, running his fingers through his spiky, auburn hair. "I know."

After a long moment, she asked softly, "Are you nervous?"

"It's just a mission, Beth," he replied as steadily as he could manage. "Like all of the other missions we've run before."

She smiled knowingly and rested her head against her hand. "I'll believe that you believe that as soon as you stop pacing around the room like a maniac."

Oh, screw it. "Do you think I did the right thing?" he asked her urgently. "Accepting this job?"

"The right thing for whom?"

"For Circle Daybreak. For the world."

She looked at him, her hazel eyes searching his face. "Are you asking me if I think you can handle this?"

Reece swallowed the lump in his throat. "Yes." He turned away from her, not wanting her to see how anxious he actually felt. As team leader, it was his duty to stay strong and show no fear or doubt because everyone else's confidence depended on his. But this was the most important mission of his life and if he fucked it up, then the entire world was fucked as well. "I know that Daybreak called me because they needed an outsider to run this but—"

"They called you because you're the best," Beth interjected. "And you're either too modest or too blind to realize the reputation you've earned, even here."

"People talk too much," he insisted. "It doesn't mean anything."

He could feel her looking at him and he turned back begrudgingly. "They're trusting you with a Wild Power," she said. "It means something."

Reece nodded slowly as some of the nervous energy inside of him dissolved. "I'd feel better if we had more of our people here." When Circle Daybreak told him about this job, they had only asked for him, not for his entire team. In fact, he'd had to argue with Thierry Descouedres in order to get permission to bring Beth.

"I know," she said. "But at least we know that things are being taken care of at home while we're gone, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "The work will be fine, true, but I have the sinking feeling that I'm going to go back to find that Jase and Sorrentino have decimated my apartment."

"Knowing your place, I'll doubt you'll even notice the difference," Beth returned brightly.

"Oh, very funny."

"Hey, maybe after this mission is done, you can ask Daybreak for a raise for our team and we can all move into apartments with hot water, and sinks that don't leak, and windows that aren't drafty." She sighed dreamily. "Just imagine it..."

Reece laughed. "Goddess, you just had to pile something else on top of the outcome of this mission, didn't you?"

"You're the one who begged for me to come with you, Cahill," she reminded him with a sparkle in her eyes. "You knew what you'd be getting."

"I must be a glutton for punishment," he replied dryly. But in truth, this was exactly why he had asked her to come with him. He needed her to make him laugh and to calm him down. If he couldn't have the Elements in this compound, Beth was the next best thing.

"So, what did you think of Carden?" Reece asked her, referring to the other vampire who would be on the team for this mission.

"He's solid," she said with certainty. "A good pick on Daybreak's part. I think he's the one that took down Kendra Pollox last year. The only issue is the 'I'm-in-love-with-myself-therefore-you-must-be-in-love-with-me-too-so-fuck-me-now' complex."

"Keep him away from Gen."

Beth started at the sudden steel in his voice. "Reece, he's a strong member of this team."

"I don't care. He can be a strong member of the team away from Gen."

She seemed perplexed. "Is this a chauvinist thing? Because in case you haven't noticed—and I know that you haven't—I'm female too. And so is Sumitra for that matter."

"Look, Gen was nearly killed only a few days ago by her _soulmate_. The last thing she needs is some vain vampire sexually harassing her."

"What she _needs_ is to stay alive and that's why Carden is here."

"Is Sumitra ready?" Reece asked abruptly.

He thought he could hear Beth's teeth grinding from across the room. Finally, she answered, "She's pumped. Been off training in Thailand for the past six months and she's looking forward to putting it to use."

"Well, she'll probably get her chance. What about Nigel?"

"Cahill, Daybreak handpicked these people. They may not be ours…or very tactful about hitting on a girl, but they're very good at what they do."

Reece nodded.

"Look, get some sleep for Christ's sake," she advised as she got up off the chair and pushed it back under the desk. "Everything will go smoothly and in a week we'll be back in Canada with our rotting floorboards and termite-infested walls."

"Thank the Goddess," he exhaled.

"You're twisted," Beth smiled at him as she left the room.

As the door clicked shut, Reece began pacing again. He looked at the clock and let out a deep breath. _T minus three hours and counting…_

* * *

_Author's Note: Although this story has been completed for a while, I'm doing a little rewriting in order to clear up some minor discrepancies and hopefully make it less sucky in general. The structure and content won't really change, just the style and some of the details. :)_


	2. Betrayal and Despair

Genevieve Harman drew her knees into her chest, curling into a fetal position under the down comforter. A bead of sweat ran across her forehead and dripped onto the pillow under her head, but she couldn't stop shivering. Her mind raced, memories stabbing behind her eyes. Too often, her hands found their way to her neck, caressing where he had last touched her, testing the soreness of the bruises that still marred her skin. The Daybreakers had offered to heal them, but she wouldn't let them.

Sometimes she imagined that her hands were his and she squeezed her throat desperately until her fingers cramped and the ceiling above her spun. She was trying to recreate that last moment with him, to understand why he had done it and why he had pulled away, but it never helped. For her to comprehend his actions, she needed to understand _him_, and it was excruciatingly clear to her now that she had never known him at all.

She wanted to hate him because then she could gather up the pain that was eating away at her, set it on fire, and watch him burn alive. But even after what he'd done to her, Gen still loved him, for whatever it was worth, and she was rotting from the inside out.

The Daybreakers made her tea and patted her on the head. Powerful witches and telepathic vampires populated this compound and only one seemed to notice the grimace in her smile and the shadows of pain in her violet eyes. The rest heard the smoothness of her soft reply, "I'm fine," and they felt comforted. No Daybreaker wanted to believe that their precious Wild Power was shaken, useless, or anything less than the divine illusion of her that they had created even before they'd found her.

Blood oozed from her forearm relentlessly and with each drop that soaked the bandage wrapped around the wound, Gen felt her Power slip away. She wished she could descend into oblivion, simply let the blood run and let the current take her where it would. But the moment she began to slide into the void, the wound would close and she was wrenched back into reality, wide-eyed and gasping for breath. And then she would have to cut herself again; she didn't even feel it any more.

Genevieve started at the knock at her door and pulled the down comforter off of her, shivering at the cool air. She readjusted the bloodstained bandage on her forearm before turning the doorknob slowly. Opening the door a crack, Gen saw the profile of Reece Cahill. "May I come in?" he asked softly.

Thierry had told her about that—Reece's perpetual politesse—and Genevieve knew that that was one of the reasons Thierry had chosen him. He had wanted her to be protected by someone who hadn't been hardened by the battles, who would sympathize with her for what she'd been through, who wouldn't push her over the edge with the clinical coldness of leading the mission.

"Sure," she replied, backing up casually.

"How are you holding up?" he asked as he closed the door behind him and leaned against it. Oh, he had power, this witch. It hummed around him, even though the strain of the past few days had taken its toll. Gen could feel it in the subtle, though futile, wash of calming energy he tried to channel to her, and she understood the charisma that made him a strong leader.

"I'm fine." She turned and walked over to the mini-fridge that was on the floor next to her desk. "Can I get you something? Do you want some water?"

"No, thanks. I know—"

Gen kept staring into the fridge. "How about some fruit? I've got tons in here. They go to a stand especially for me every week. They have the best peaches I've ever had. I guess it's just a perk for saving the world." She knew she was speaking fast, too fast, but she couldn't stop. "Well, maybe it's just an investment in me because I really haven't done anything yet, but I guess I'll get my chance—"

Reece came up next to her and put his hand on hers, but she pulled away abruptly. She couldn't stand to be touched, not since _that night_. "Gen," he said, "I know you're not fine. You don't have to do this."

She looked up at him. "Yes, I do. I have to hold it together. It's bad enough that they all know about Aiden. I don't want them to know that I'm losing my grip."

"You've got every right," he replied gently. "He's your soulmate."

"I don't have the right," she argued tiredly. "I'm a Wild Power. My life isn't my own. I can't afford this—any of this. The Night World will tear me apart and that will mean the end of the world. And I've been foolish enough as it is. I can't let Daybreak down again."

The witch at her side looked at her keenly. "You blame yourself?"

"If not me, who else?" Gen replied with a bitter bite to the words.

"Does it really matter?"

She didn't answer him. He stood close to her, so that she could feel his warmth, and she realized that he cared about her, even though he barely knew her. Of course, all of the Daybreakers did, but only because she was a Wild Power. To them, she was their savior, and now she even had the damn stigmata to prove it. But Reece seemed different; he cared about her because he cared about everyone.

"There are a lot of powerful people in Daybreak, Gen" he told her. "You know that. None of them realized what he was doing."

"But you said it yourself," she countered with sudden passion. Frustration burned through her. Anger. Helplessness. The endless litany of "what ifs" tore at her mind. "He's my soulmate! I was closer to him than anyone. I should have seen it. Goddess, even the day I met him there was signs."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed. The anger was gone as quickly as it had come, leaving a hollow emptiness in its wake. "When I realized what I was, I left my circle to be protected by Daybreak. I flew here. It was supposed to be safe…not many in the Night World knew about this compound, or so I was told. I got off the plane in Dulles and looked around for the Daybreak contact who was supposed to meet me…" Her voice trailed off as she remembered the moment she had first seen him.

He'd stood in the aisle of the terminal, dressed in a white button-down shirt and black pants, and he was a good head taller than anyone else there. She remembered thinking that he was beautiful, with a fine-boned face and a somber mouth that wasn't made for smiling; she remembered wishing that _she_ could be the one to make him smile. But then she became distracted as his long, dark lashes swept down, and when they lifted again, she looked into his pale gray eyes.

She didn't have the words to describe it, even now. She'd been told that it took physical contact to recognize one's soulmate, but Genevieve had known hers the moment her eyes locked onto his. The sun, the moon, and the stars were encompassed in them—her entire universe was suddenly compressed into those silvery depths.

He had recognized her as well, and though it didn't register with her at the time, he paled.

Letting her carry-on bag slide off her shoulder, Gen had run across the aisle to throw her arms around him. Her fingers brushed the bare skin at the nape of his neck, just under the collar of his shirt, sending a jolt of sweet electricity through them both. She had pressed her head against his chest, breathing in his scent, and she hadn't even noticed that he'd been as cold and rigid as a statue in her arms.

Knowing what she knew now, she wondered what he'd felt at that moment. Disappointment, maybe. Disgust. Tiny seeds of hate that over the course of two years had blossomed into the vivid, crimson rage that she had witnessed in him five days ago. She could never be sure.

Whatever it was, it had taken him no more than a minute to get control of it. Then he'd let his lips rest against her forehead and whispered, "We've got to get out of here."

Genevieve had pulled away and her soulmate had pressed a button on the sleek, black cell phone in his hand and brought it to his ear. "I need backup. Now." Then he'd grabbed her bag from the floor and grasped her arm tightly, rushing her through the terminal.

"What's going on?" she had asked, trying to keep up with his long, quick strides.

"Night World," was all he'd said.

Glancing over her shoulder and back to the gate, Gen had seen them: two predatory vampires with luminescent eyes were staring after her. In a panic she'd broken her arm free from her soulmate and ran down the escalator towards the baggage claim. She hadn't known where she was going; she'd only known that she must stay alive. Her soulmate had been right behind her, calling her name.

Before she could reach the exit, she'd been surrounded by a group of vampires and shapeshifters. Breathing hard, she bit her lip, trying to draw blood so that she could call on the blue fire. But then her soulmate finally reached her, put his hands on her shoulders, and said crisply, "They're Daybreak, Genevieve. They'll take you to the compound."

Then she'd been whisked out of the automatic doors and into the thick summer heat. But it was only after she'd been pushed into the soft leather seats in the back of a BMW that she realized her soulmate was not with them.

"Where is he?" she had cried, trying to turn to look out the back windshield.

The shapeshifter at the wheel had stepped on the gas and the tires screeched as they'd torn away from the airport. "Don't worry about Aiden. He's going to head off the Night World so they can't follow us."

"By himself?" she asked, her voice breaking.

"Trust me, witch, he can handle himself. Now be quiet so I can drive." He had jerked the wheel and the car had sped onto the highway, reaching over one hundred miles per hour as they drove toward D.C.

"I know what happened," Reece said to her now, bringing Genevieve back to the moment. "I read the report."

"I was so stupid," she said to him, shaking her head. "I was just glad to be alive and to have found my soulmate. I never realized that the Night World vampires in the airport hadn't even tried to chase after me. They were Aiden's. They were waiting for his signal and he didn't give it." She shrugged. "I guess he decided that since he could get to me at any time, he would use me for information before killing me."

"He was third in line to run the compound, Gen. He could have gotten to you at any time even if you weren't his soulmate."

His words pierced her heart. "Don't say that," she whispered. "Don't try to give me any hope that I might have meant something to him, okay? It's cruel."

"You're right," Reece agreed. "I'm sorry."

She took a deep breath and tucked her long hair behind her ear. "Do you have a soulmate?"

"No." He smiled. "Not unless you count my work and my team."

"That's nice. Are you happy?"

"Yes."

"That's nice," she said again. Goddess, she used to be so happy. It was lonely, being a Wild Power, even though she was never actually alone. There were always guards surrounding her, people watching her every move. The other Daybreakers fawned over her as if she was the Hollywood "It" girl of the D.C. compound, but very few of them really knew her. Still, it hadn't occurred to her to mind—she was well cared for, protected, comfortable, and more than anything, she was in love with Aiden St. Helen.

She had thought that he loved her, too. He didn't say it very often, but it wasn't in his nature to be so expressive; work seemed to be the outlet for all of his passion. When he wasn't out in the field, he was quiet and serious and, she realized now, cold.

"Do you have any questions about today?" Reece asked. "About how this is—"

There was a sound in the hallway, someone coughing loudly as they walked by her door, and Genevieve nearly jumped out of her skin. She knew that Reece was still talking, but his words were lost as her mind catapulted her back in time. Back to _that night_.

Aiden had been out on assignment, or so she had thought. As usual, she tried to wait up for him, but by two o'clock, sleep had claimed her. Some time later, she had woken to the sound of a muffled cry outside her door. It had worried her at first, but then her door had opened and her soulmate came in.

Gen had yawned as she sat up to look at the clock. "Hey, how was your patrol?"

He hadn't said a word. Silently, he came up to the side of her bed and she remembered the way that his eyes had flashed like cold steel as he wrapped his hands around her throat.

Startled and confused, she'd tried to speak, to ask him what was going on, but his thumbs held her airway completely shut. While she lay there, astounded, her body began to instinctively fight him. She clawed at his arms, kicked at him, tried to scramble away, but he was too strong.

Black spots had danced before her eyes and Genevieve finally understood that this wasn't some horrible mistake or a sick joke. Her soulmate was going to kill her and he was going to enjoy it. And he had planned this; he knew that he had to do it without drawing blood.

Her hands had fallen limp on top of his and through the link between them, she felt his desperation. There was a voice inside of his mind that hissed, _Die, die, die…just one more minute, just die, please die..._

And being the fool that she was, Gen pitied him even as she started to lose consciousness. She had wanted to die just so that he would stop hurting. She loved him that much.

He had felt it. As she hovered on the brink of death, Aiden had stared down into her eyes and then he suddenly let go of her, rushing back from her as if she had shocked him. Gasping for breath almost as hard as she, he left her on the bed and bolted from her room. And she'd known in that moment that she would never see him again.

Warm hands shook her gently. "Gen? Are you okay?"

Drawing away from Reece Cahill, she tried to force away the tears that stung her eyes. "I'm fine," she murmured. "I'm just tired."

"That's understandable. You haven't slept in—"

"No," she interrupted him with an urgent sigh. "I'm _tired_. I'm tired of thinking and I'm tired of being."

Reece gave her a soft smile. "You're strong, Genevieve. You may not believe it, but anyone else here would be stark-raving mad if they'd been through what you have."

"Who says I'm not?"

Carefully, he touched her arm again. "I can't pretend to know what you're feeling. All I can tell you is that we're going to get you out of here, to someplace safe. You can try to heal there…we'll do what we can."

"There is nothing that can heal me," she whispered. Then she turned to face Reece directly. "I want to die. I've dreamed about it, about him holding on for a few more seconds. Just holding on so that I could let go. I wish that he had so that I wouldn't have to feel this."

The witch tried to speak, but Gen cut him off again. "I know how selfish it is, but I wish I would die."

Reece's green eyes darkened and he remained silent for a long moment. In the end, he seemed to realize that there was nothing he could say to that. "Can I help change your bandage?" he asked hoarsely, with a glance to her left forearm.

"No…I can do it," she murmured.

He cleared his throat. "We're up in an hour. Will you be ready?"

Genevieve only nodded.


	3. The Assignment Part 1

It was standard procedure to meet with the local Night World leader when coming to a new city in order to be welcomed and warned about hunters in the area. In the past, Alexandra Harper had avoided it as often as she could. Tristan had sometimes gone alone, obtaining the approval of their presence for the both of them, but in a few cities across the country they'd both been required to appear before the leader.

That had been hell.

Once upon a time, when Lex's body had been up for sale, the only vampires who could afford to spend a small fortune on a night with her were usually in positions of power. She wasn't really worried that any of them would recognize her now—they hadn't thrown down all of that money to look at her face—but she was afraid of recognizing them.

Standing in their offices with Tristan at her side, her eyes had flickered all around the room—the ceiling, the floor, the bookcases, the stereo systems, the windows, the glossy lacquer on the desks, the texture of the upholstery on the couches—_anywhere_, so long as she didn't have to look at them. She couldn't bear to look at their smooth hands and remember how they felt on her skin. She didn't want to see their arms or their fangs or their chins or their ears, and more than anything, she didn't want to see their eyes.

For days after those meetings, Lex wouldn't hunt. Wouldn't eat. Wouldn't sleep. She would hold Tristan hostage in the bedroom, using the age-old rhythm of sex to pound the memories out of her head. And luckily, he mistook her desperation for excitement, for happiness, for perhaps a thousand other emotions that had abandoned her long ago. She didn't care to enlighten him. She let him believe whatever he liked as she screwed their collective brains out until the dread eventually faded. Then she would be safe until the next time they moved.

But the first meeting with Angela Catellini had been different.

Angie had been running Washington, D.C. for five years out of a penthouse apartment in Arlington, Virginia. It was a small, but difficult area to manage because Circle Daybreak had made the capitol a stronghold a decade beforehand. Angie had persevered, however, strengthening the presence of the Night World in the city and extending her control up through Baltimore and as far south as Richmond. She was a vampire on the rise, but that was nothing new. In the Night World you were either rising or falling, there was no middle ground.

As usual, Lex had been anxious during the walk over the Key Bridge to Arlington. She clung so closely to Tristan that she nearly tripped him more than once. When they arrived in the lobby of the apartment building, Tristan had stood her in front of the large windows near the elevators. "Stay here. I'll go first," he offered.

"First?" she repeated, not understanding.

"Angie does this on an individual basis," he replied with an amused roll of his eyes. "She's really strict about security, so I'll go first and then you can go up."

Alexandra tried to protest, but Tristan had already entered an elevator that had just reached the lobby. For the next five minutes, she paced back and forth nervously in front of the window, watching her own reflection.

It was a strange habit she'd developed, always making sure that the face she presented to the world let nothing show. She was just a young teenage girl, all gloss and glory. But when Lex was alone, she let her mask fade away, revealing the despair and weariness in the reflection of her eyes. That night she watched herself struggle as she walked agitatedly, her hair whipping her face each time she turned to pace the other direction. After a small eternity, the elevator doors opened again and Tristan emerged.

"You're up," he said, seeming so relaxed that Lex wanted to shake him in frustration. "Don't worry. It's the same spiel we always get. You'll be fine, sweetheart."

But when Alexandra had stepped out of the elevator into Angie's penthouse and saw the red-haired vampire for the first time, she knew that Tristan had been wrong. She would not be fine. Not by a long shot.

The ostentation was typical, the numerous werewolf guards standing at attention along each wall were to be expected, but Angie was unlike any vampire that she had ever seen. It wasn't only the fierce, fiery beauty or the predatory way that she moved…it was more in the way that Angie had looked at her—with a raised eyebrow and a haughty half-smile—that left Lex feeling suddenly naked and defensive.

She had crossed her arms in front of her chest and let her gaze bounce around the penthouse, looking everywhere but at Angie. All of the times she'd done this in the past, Tristan had been right next to her, deflecting attention from her; without him, there was nowhere to hide.

Leisurely, Angie had risen from the depths of the black leather sofa and slowly walked toward her. The vampire brazenly took Lex in, letting her emerald eyes run up and down her body to come to rest, finally, on her face. After running her sharp canines over her lips, Angie said in a low voice, "Alexandra Harper, I presume. It's a pleasure."

Lex had nodded, staring at a spot over the vampire's shoulder.

Angie had cocked her head to the side and laughed. "Why won't you look at me, Luscious? You must know that I'm not one of the ones who raped you."

Alexandra had lost her breath. No one was supposed to know about that. Ever. Panicked, she'd tried to reinforce her mental shields only to find that they were already as solid as possible.

That could mean only one thing…

The fiery vampire had given her a coy smile and backed away, tossing her long red hair back over her shoulders. "That's right, pretty one," she had purred. "My power is not much different from yours. I can taste you, Luscious. I can taste your insipid, though rather sexy bodyguard waiting for you downstairs. Mental blocks mean nothing to us. The humans, the rest of the Night World—they are all beneath us. Their souls are ours for the taking."

"No," she'd whispered, shaking her head slightly in response.

"Oh, don't deny it," Angie had chided as she sat back down on the sofa and crossed her legs. She was mesmerizing and Lex couldn't look away. "You know what you feel every time you stare into someone's eyes and feel the power well up inside of you. You know how it feels to tear into them, consume who they are. What they are. You could control it if you only had the focus. The will. Every moment for you could be like the kill."

The vampire had looked at her curiously. "But you don't want the will, do you? You fear it." A slow, husky laugh spilled from Angie's lips. "You fear your maker."

Alexandra couldn't breathe, then. The air had caught in her throat and even though her heartbeat had been thundering in her ears, the sound would not drown out the words that were screaming in her head. _Your maker_.

"You won't live long if you fear power," Angie had continued. "Your power is aching to be set free and it has a will of its own. The Night World is vicious, as well you know. To cast aside a gift like yours would be a foolish and deadly mistake. And there is so much more to this life than blood and the measly human lives you revel in."

"Like what?" Lex had asked, even though she didn't want to hear the answer.

"Billions of souls to steal, Luscious. Your maker knew. Power is the elixir, not blood…though he certainly took a great deal of both from you. He still does."

"Stop," she'd begged as she fought the urge to hide her face with her trembling hands.

"You still can't bear it, can you?" the other vampire had asked. "You still feel those hands on you, those teeth in you. He made you so young so that you would never have the strength to fight him. Or any of them."

"Stop it!" Alexandra had hissed, her hands pulling desperately at her hair. "Stop! What do you want from me? Why are you telling me all of this?"

Angie had smiled again, her white fangs glinting in the candlelight. "I'm just having some fun, pretty one. What can I say? You are delicious." She'd gestured off-handedly towards the elevators behind Lex. "You can go now. But you'll stay in Washington, won't you? I might need to taste you again before long."

The voracious gleam in her green eyes was the last glimpse Alexandra had had of Angie until now.

_Soul Stealer_…the very phrase sent a cold shiver through Lex's body as she followed Tristan and Angie down the escalators into the metro station. They leapt gracefully over the turn styles, moving too fast for the humans to see as they made their way down to the platform where a subway train stood with its doors open.

Angie led them into the last car, which was empty except for a tall, lanky vampire with pale gray eyes standing at the back, his long fingers grasping one of the metal poles in the center of the aisle. Alexandra took hold of the pole next to him and Tristan followed suit. Eyeing the new vampire warily, her companion covered her hand with his in a gesture that was purely possessive.

She looked up at him questioningly. He could be jealous sometimes, but it was completely unwarranted now; the tall, seemingly solemn vampire hadn't even glanced at her. If Tristan wanted to guard her from anyone it should be Angie.

The Night World governor slid into a window seat, stretching her legs across the aisle seat. She looked the same as she had those months ago, both seductive and commanding. Her satiny clothes clung to her in such a way that, at first glance, she could have been mistaken for a streetwalker. But only a fool could miss the power smoldering in her eyes.

And those eyes were trained on Lex just then, pulling on her like gravity while she tried to stare at the orange carpet under her feet. She could feel Angie willing her to look up, to meet her gaze.

_I'm just having some fun…_

Alexandra shivered even as she broke into a sweat. The walls guarding her mind were like steel, but that meant nothing to someone with Angie's power and she couldn't help wondering what the vampire was seeing in her mind right now. There was so much torture to choose from. Was she seeing it all at once or was she fixed on a certain night? A certain scream? Did it disturb her on some primal level or did she absorb it with a sick sense of fascination?

Even though she had consumed that rich businessman on the street a mere twenty minutes ago, Lex could feel her own power prickling along the surface of her skin once again. If she just looked up, she could delve into Angie's soul and find the answers to her questions. Hell, she could find a lot more than that. She could probably steal some bit of knowledge that she could use to protect herself from Angie. Something she could use to hurt her.

No. She couldn't do that. She wouldn't...

But Angie was still watching her, silently urging her to submit to the monster inside.

_No, goddamn it!_ She was free from her maker. The monster was under her control now and she would not let it out. Her breathing labored, Lex squeezed her eyes shut.

Tristan tensed, his hand tightening over hers, and she realized that he had caught her last thought. Suspiciously, he looked back and forth between her and Angie. "Lex?" he breathed softly.

She shook her head in reply. It hurt him, but she didn't give a damn.

"This is an associate of mine," Angie said, her husky voice breaking the awkward silence in the subway car. She gestured to the new vampire. "I don't believe you met him last time. Aiden St. Helen, this is Alexandra Harper and Tristan Chaucer."

In awe, Lex quickly glanced at him and whispered, "Hellraiser."

"He used to be," the red-haired vampire replied flippantly. "But I'm afraid that his career in Daybreak came to a rather abrupt end."

A sardonic smile tugged at one corner of Aiden's mouth, but he didn't respond. He only tipped his head back and sighed deeply, as if praying for patience. He seemed to be the exact antithesis of the relentless, driven Daybreak slayer that Alexandra had heard about. How many Night World enclaves had he personally decimated? And yet here he stood, silent and composed, with Angela Catellini. It didn't make any sense.

He brought his head back down and found her staring at him, but neither of them looked away.

Her heart lurched in her chest. She shouldn't be doing this. Her power was still pulsing inside of her like a restless beast, demanding to be set free, and if she didn't force her gaze down she was going to latch onto him.

As she started to turn away, he moved slightly, his gray eyes holding hers captive, refusing to let her go.

Oh god, he didn't know what he was doing. He didn't...

But then all of her thoughts were swept away as her power, unwilling to be contained any longer, broke through the walls between them and Lex suddenly felt as if her heart had caught fire. She was burning alive from the inside out, smothered by the screams caught in her throat. This sensation was so familiar that she didn't know if she was drowning in his soul or being swallowed by her own.

After a fleeting moment, he tore his gaze away, severing the current between them and she nearly cried out at the loss. It had been so long since she had felt that close to anyone and in spite of everything, she wanted to feel it again.

In Lex's peripheral vision, she could see Angie watching her, a strange smile playing on her lips.

"What the hell is going on here?" Tristan snapped. His grip over Lex's hand was so tight now that he was crushing her fingers against the pole. He sounded irritated but she knew that he was anxious. So much was being said without words among the other vampires and he couldn't hear any of it, much less understand it.

"Enough of this," Angie said, as if she hadn't heard the outburst. "Let's get to the point, shall we? I have a job for you two."

Tristan looked at her. "What sort of job?" he asked carefully.

"There is a certain witch I need eliminated," she replied with a subtle glance at Aiden.

"Why?" Alexandra asked before she could stop herself. "Why us?"

Angie smiled. "Let's just say that she has sensitive information about my operations and she's with Circle Daybreak. And you two are not involved in my operations and you're unknown to Daybreak, so it should be easier for you to finish her off successfully. And, well, the truth of the matter is that she's a powerful witch and you, Luscious, and your sexy bodyguard are capable and more importantly, expendable.

"Although…it would be a shame to lose such potential." She winked at Lex. "I would be disappointed if you died, Soul Stealer. There are so few of us."

"Few of who?" Tristan demanded. "Why do you keep calling her that?" His questions were for Angie, but his eyes were on Alexandra, begging for answers. Desperate for trust.

"You mean she hasn't told you?" Angie asked sarcastically. "And I thought that communication was the most important aspect of a relationship.

"But that's beside the point now, isn't it? The witch is the main concern now. So to reiterate: kill this witch or you two will die. You can try to run, of course, but then I'd be angry over wasting the time and resources to find you. And when I do find you…well let's just suffice it to say that it would be incredibly foolish to run."

"What are the details?" Tristan asked after a long moment of silence, his voice sounding thick.

Alexandra could barely listen. She had the strange and sudden urge to cry. Tristan may have conceded for the moment, but Lex knew that he would not let his questions go this time. She looked at her reflection in the window of the subway car, seeing a girl that seemed so young, and felt old.


	4. The Assignment Part 2

Reece Cahill had been running his own op in Canada long before Circle Daybreak was revived. His team had been working together for years; they knew each other's strengths and weaknesses and their missions tended to run with the smooth grace of a dance. But here, he felt out of his element, leading a group of strangers who were each exceptional leaders in their own right.

Hell, this was not going to be easy.

Although their voices were hushed, the whispers and murmurs echoed from the cement walls of the tiny room, creating a din that sounded like a hurricane. They were hidden away in an old utility closet on a deserted floor of the compound that was undergoing renovations. The members of his new team sat in rickety wooden chairs in a semicircle around him, illuminated by a harsh yellow light from a single bulb hanging from the ceiling.

Reece stood in front of a large, green chalkboard and he glanced at Beth, who was sitting to his right. She was now dressed in lightweight black clothing and shoes with spiked wooden heels. She looked proud and a little fierce. When she smiled slightly and nodded at him, he realized once again just how grateful he was for her presence.

"Okay, let's get started," he finally said. The room fell silent as everyone came to attention. "I know this is the first time we've all met together as a group, but it's important that we function as a team. Although you've been briefed on the situation, I'm going to go over it again so you know where your focus is."

He pointed at the first photograph taped on the chalkboard behind him. "Genevieve Harman, a Wild Power, has been living here in this compound for the past two years for protection. Five days ago at 2:47 AM, she was attacked. The assassin killed the guards outside her door and nearly strangled her to death."

Reece stepped to his right and gestured to the next picture on the board. "The attacker was her soulmate, Aiden St. Helen."

The black and white picture was a blown up version of a surveillance camera shot taken the night of Genevieve's attack. Aiden had an aristocratic profile and seemed unnaturally calm for a person about to kill his soulmate. Reece wasn't sure if he respected or pitied the vampire's passivity.

"I still can't believe it," the vampire called Carden interjected. He was straddling the wooden chair and it creaked under his weight as he leaned forward. Although he was built like a football player with his broad shoulders and thick neck, the lamia could actually move with impressive speed. "Hellraiser? Man, I've heard of him. He's been in Daybreak for years."

"Yes, he has," Reece said slowly. "And that's why this situation is so precarious. During the attack, Genevieve was able to grasp a few details from St. Helen's mind. It seems that he has been working for the local Night World leader, Angela Catellini. Now, if he could get in and pass as a Daybreaker for years, there's no telling how many others Angie might have in here, or how high on the chain they've gotten. But the most important thing is that Genevieve is no longer safe here or with anyone from this compound. That's why we were called; all of us work on the outskirts of Daybreak, have no connections to anyone who works in this area, and have obviously proven our abilities.

"So here we are," he continued. "Let's get to the introductions."

"Ah, don't tell me you're going to make us play an icebreaker game," a male witch with a lilting British accent interjected. "The last time I freelanced outside my Circle, the leader made us play that human knot game."

"I guess it would be more of a vampire-witch-shapeshifter knot, in this case," Beth pointed out with a grin.

"Weirdest fucking knot I ever heard of," Carden grumbled.

Reece gave the group a wry smile. "Sorry to disappoint you, Nigel," he said to the witch, "but I'm afraid we don't have time for that. So I'll just start: I work with Beth Cezanne and some others in Montreal."

"We did a lot of fighting at first," Beth added. "But now we mostly keep the peace. Try to keep the Night World races and humans from killing each other."

Reece nodded towards the lamia next to him. "Jonas Carden," he said as the vampire flashed a brilliant smile to the room, "has been working for Daybreak for eleven years, assassinating some of the worst Night World criminals as well as those who are beginning to rally forces against Daybreak."

"Damn right," the lamia said proudly.

"Assassination?" Nigel asked. "This is Circle _Daybreak_."

"Hey, it's a means to an end," Carden replied with a shrug.

The witch frowned. "I was under the impression that Daybreak was about using peaceful means."

"Give me a break," the vampire groaned as he rolled his eyes. "What do you want us to do, witch? Hug a tree and politely ask the Night World to stop slaughtering innocent people? You think if we invite them to sit down with us and sing _Kumbaya_, they'll give up their dreams of world domination?"

"That's enough," Reece snapped. "We're not here to debate Daybreak's methods. And I will not tolerate this kind of bickering on my team, is that clear?"

The room was silent as he coldly glanced at each member of his team. Goddess, this was going to be harder than he'd thought. When Thierry Descouedres picked out each Daybreaker for this mission, he had clearly chosen some of the strongest and most skilled members, but a more thorough background check would have been helpful.

After taking a breath, Reece gestured to the British witch, "Nigel Abforth works outside of London with a small circle of witches, searching for old texts, artifacts, and spells that may help Daybreak in the war."

The witch bowed his head in acknowledgement. He was short, with a compact body, but he still had obvious strength—physical and spiritual. His cat green eyes flashed with power. "I've got a few interesting spells with me," he added

Reece nodded. "Good, I'm sure we'll need them. Lastly, and thankfully, we have our shapeshifter, Sumitra."

The tall Asian girl smiled, her golden eyes gleaming. She had been so quiet during this meeting that Reece had almost forgotten her, but now that she had been recognized, he saw that she was a formidable presence when she wanted to be. "I'm a lynx to be exact," she said. "I've been working with a shifter sensei in Thailand. Before that I was with something of a vigilante group. My sensei introduced me to Circle Daybreak."

"Okay," Reece said. "We're all familiar with each other. Here's the deal: we're going to transport Genevieve to a safe location. There are some witches running a Daybreak safe house in the mountains of West Virginia that Thierry Descouedres trusts. It's heavily guarded by non-violence spells and Gen will get the kind of protection she needs for the time being. But given the likelihood of Angie having more informants in this compound, we need to move her quickly and quietly. And we need to make sure that we're not followed, physically or telepathically."

"But she's been kept here for the past five days?" Sumitra asked. "Wasn't that risky on Daybreak's part?"

"A certain temporary precaution was taken for her safety," Reece replied softly. "Gen cut her forearm and did a spell to keep the wound open so that she could use the blue fire if she was attacked again."

"Goddess," Nigel gasped. "How could she keep that up?"

"She can't. She hasn't slept since it happened and her power is nearly drained…she won't be able to keep the wound open much longer. That's why it's imperative that we get her out of here now."

"Who knows about all of this?" Carden asked.

"All the Daybreakers in this compound know that Gen was attacked by her soulmate. Everyone knew about their relationship to begin with and they needed to be informed about the attack in the event that Aiden tried to get into the compound again. But as you're all aware from our solitary confinement here the past few days, very few people know we're here: just Gen, Thierry, and the Anton Parish, the vampire heading up this compound."

"What do we know about Catellini?" Sumitra asked.

Reece sighed heavily. "Not much," he replied. He nodded up to the third photograph on the blackboard. Angie's photo was in full color and her red hair looked like a cloud of fire around her pale face. The shot was taken by a Daybreak surveillance team that had been staking out the vampire's apartment building as Angie smoked. From the flirtatious wink the camera had captured, it was clear that Angie had known they were watching.

"She appears to be in her early twenties, but of course that means nothing. We assume that she's lamia, but we can't rule out the possibility that she's a made vampire."

"With enough make-up, someone in their late teens could probably pass for twenty-two, twenty-three," Beth added.

Carden nodded, seeming unusually solemn. "Human girls do it all the time when they want to get into clubs."

"Right," Reece agreed. He wondered about the vampire's sudden change in demeanor, but now wasn't the time to ask. "And unfortunately, we don't know where Angie came from, nor do we know of any relations. 'Catellini' appears to be a pseudonym. As you can tell from the picture, she has a flair for the dramatic. She's vain and has a tendency to draw attention to herself wherever she goes. But she wasn't even a blip on the Night World radar until around 1998. Washington was a Daybreak stronghold, then. Angie was running a small gang of vampires that gradually got bigger. Despite Daybreak efforts, the gang kept growing until it eventually got the attention of the Night World. Apparently the Elders were so impressed that they decided to make Angie the official leader of this area. She's done well for herself."

After a brief hesitation, Reece continued. "And there is one more thing of importance that we know. Angie is an extremely powerful telepath."

Carden smirked as his wise-ass arrogance resurfaced. "Aren't we all?" he drawled.

"She's powerful, even for a vampire," the witch explained. "The Daybreakers who have crossed paths with her—those that lived to tell the tale, that is—said that she can do more than read thoughts. She can read the person; the past, present, and subconscious. And the potential danger of this is that even if you block your thoughts from her, she can still glean a great deal of information from you."

"Fucking A," Carden replied.

"That's one way of putting it," Reece said with a wry smile.

"So what's the plan, Cahill?" the lamia asked, his fangs glinting under the yellow light.

Reece smiled. He could feel the energy now filling the room as his team shifted gears, ready for some action after days of waiting. For the first time, this mission felt right. "I want two teams. Gen will come with Sumitra and me. Carden will head up the other team with Beth and Nigel."

"Whoa, Cahill," the vampire cut in, "I'm on the second team? I signed on for this to protect the Wild Power."

Reece glanced at Beth and she shrugged noncommittally. She disagreed with him about putting Carden on the second team in order to keep the vampire away from Gen, but she would never argue with him in front of everyone else. "That's what we all signed on for," he said as he gestured for quiet. "And that's what we'll all be doing. I need a strong fighter to lead the second group. Your team will be handling a great deal of the risk. All that matters here is keeping Genevieve alive."

The lamia frowned, but seemed less incensed.

"Nigel," Reece addressed the witch, "can you work a spell on Beth that will make her look like Gen? And vice versa."

"Are they the same build?" he asked.

"More or less," Beth replied. "I'm a bit taller, but it should be negligible."

"Yeah, I think I could do it for a couple of hours, at least. How long can Gen keep up the spell on her arm?"

Reece bit his lip. "I don't know…not much longer."

"Can you keep it going?" Nigel asked.

"Technically, yes," he answered. "But we don't know what is going to happen to us out there; I want to save as much of my power as I can. And I need you on the second team with Beth, so you can't do it either."

The witch nodded. "No room for mistakes, then."

"To say the least," Reece said dryly. "Carden's team is going to leave first and take a more obvious route. I want you three to take the main elevators up and out; we want everyone to see you."

"Normally Gen, being who she is, needs to sign out when she leaves the compound and take bodyguards with her," Beth explained. "With the assassination attempt, she's not allowed to leave here at all. So basically this will have to look like a kidnapping attempt or like Genevieve has gone renegade."

"I vote for the renegade plan," Nigel said. "The guards might be less likely to shoot to kill us if it doesn't seem like Gen is going under duress."

"You pussy," Carden grumbled.

"We need to stay alive to protect her, genius," the witch retorted.

"I agree with Nigel on this one," Reece interrupted before the argument escalated. "I think the guards are far less prepared to handle that kind of scenario. It'll be your best chance at getting out of here alive."

"What about us?" Sumitra asked.

"Anton gave me the schematics for the compound. There is an evacuation tunnel that leads out from the fourth underground floor and hits the metro system close to the Silver Spring station. With the other team making a good diversion, we should be able to get out unnoticed.

"Once everyone is out, get as far away from the city as you can on foot and then we'll meet at 10 p.m. on the Inner Harbor in Baltimore and go from there. Are there any questions?"

"What if we can't get out?" Nigel asked. "We're going to have nearly every guard in the vicinity on us."

"You have to get out," Reece replied simply. "Use whatever resources you can. But if the situation is that dire, it would be better you go down than be captured…even you, Beth. We all knew the risks when we signed on for this. Anything else?"

"Yeah," Sumitra said. "Can Genevieve fight? I mean, if it comes down to it, will she be able to hold her own?"

Reece hesitated, thinking of the pain in Gen's eyes and the soft certainty in her voice as she confessed to him, _I wish I would die_. But then he replied steadily, "Yes, I think she will. But I'd really rather not put it to the test."


	5. Hellraiser

The metal pole blurred before his eyes, a silver haze against the orange carpet of the subway car. He waited for Angie to come back as he telepathically kept the train in the Dupont Circle station with the doors open. Humans often complained about the subway service in D.C.—unexplained delays, door malfunctions, trains breaking down—but they would be surprised to learn that the causes for most of the problems were not mechanical at all. Arrogant vampires were hell on public transportation.

Aiden St. Helen didn't know what he was doing here. And he didn't care. He followed Angie's instructions, listened to her complacent taunts, but the world around him was dull and nebulous. He felt as if he had somehow crossed over into the Theater of the Absurd, but hell, even Beckett couldn't come up with this shit.

His eyes were dry and raw; he hadn't slept in five days. Not since _that night_. The longer he stayed awake, the thicker the glass that separated him from reality seemed to become. _She_ almost ceased to be. Aiden wondered if given enough time, the glass would become too thick for the silver cord to reach him. It was a foolish and desperate hope, but it was all that he had left.

He glanced out the window of the metro car, but he still didn't see Angie. This was the first time she had really left him alone since the night he had failed. She'd been keeping him close, claiming that he couldn't be trusted any more, but Aiden knew she just wanted to torment him. She'd been livid that night when he returned from the Daybreak compound, pinning him to the wall with a stake through his shoulder and another through his stomach before he'd even made it out of the elevator into her penthouse, but even so, part of her seemed to relish watching him fall apart. She always did appreciate the simple pleasures in life.

He caught sight of Angie then, rushing down the escalators with two other vampires, and his jaw tightened. They hit the platform and sprinted into the subway car and Aiden immediately released his telepathic hold on the doors, letting them slam shut. As his boss slid into a seat and the other vampires took hold of the pole next to him, the train began to pull out of the station.

Aiden recognized the vampire girl, the one Angie introduced as Alexandra Harper. He had seen her in the lobby of Angie's building one night a while back. She'd been pacing furiously back and forth by the elevators, her shoes slamming hard into the glossy tile floor. To most humans she'd probably appeared to be a young girl having a typical teenage fit, but he had seen the age in her eyes. And the fear. Even in the Night World, there weren't many people who had that look.

It had shaken him for some reason and he would have been glad to never see her again, but Angie developed a fixation with the girl. Over the past few months, she spent so much time recklessly honing in on Alexandra's mind that afterward her migraines left her nearly incapacitated. At the time, Aiden hadn't thought much of it and his boss certainly hadn't offered any explanations for her fascination, but now he wondered why Angie would intentionally subject herself to all that pain for this one girl.

"Hellraiser," Alexandra whispered. Hearing that name on her lips startled him, rousing him from his thoughts.

"He used to be," Angie replied.

Aiden almost laughed at that. _I never was_, he thought as he let his head fall back. Daybreak had given him that nickname, but he'd never been one of them.

For years, he had slowly worked his way up the chain of command, faithfully carrying out his duties with enough skill and flair to grab the attention of the elders and gain their trust. And then he used it against them.

He had exploited Daybreak's resources to surreptitiously eliminate his enemies in the Night World. He had sabotaged critical missions. He had sold highly sensitive secrets to the highest bidder. He had been carefully eroding the organization from the inside out and if he'd stayed the course, he would be a legend right now.

Gritting his teeth, he looked down again and found the vampire girl staring at him. To his surprise, something inside of him shifted as her sapphire eyes met his. There was a strange sort of energy churning between them—something akin to desire, but it was even more basic than that.

She tried to look away, but Aiden tilted his head, holding her gaze. He didn't know why, but he wasn't ready to let her go.

Alexandra stiffened as if she was afraid and in the next instant he felt her pierce through the layer of exhaustion he had created to dampen his pain. For a moment he let it happen. He let her see his anguish and anger, regret and frustration. Watching her eyes widen as she drank him in, Aiden trembled with release. It was insanity, but he couldn't stop it. Didn't want to stop it. He was tired and cold, and for a scant second, this vampire girl warmed him.

Suddenly that warmth began to burn as the wall he had erected between him and his soulmate quickly crumbled to the ground. Alexandra was still staring at him, but the only thing he could see was his witch, her violet eyes brimming with perfect love as he slowly wrung the life from her body.

_No, don't see her eyes again. Don't see that love in the last glimpse of shining violet eyes, don't feel her love course through you like cyanide that just won't fucking kill you! Don't see it again! Don't see her love with your hands around her throat!_

Aiden wrenched his gaze away from the vampire girl, struggling to keep his breathing deep and even. His hands were squeezing the metal pole so tightly that his knuckles were white.

Damn it, he should have known better. By letting Alexandra in, he had opened himself up to everything else as well. The memories and emotions that he had tried so hard to bury over the past few days were drawn back to the surface. He could feel his witch again, so close. She was invading his senses, boring a hole in his soul, cutting him to pieces. There was so much pain and at that moment, he desperately wanted to die.

No, that wasn't him. That was _her_. Her thoughts, her despair.

_Get away. Get away from me!_

"Do you have something you'd like to add, Hellraiser?" Angie asked sweetly. The sound of her voice jolted his mind back to the subway car, freeing it from his witch's grasp.

"No," he replied, his voice surprisingly steady.

A smirk appeared on Angie's lips and then it was gone. _How far the great and untouchable Hellraiser has fallen,_ her telepathic voice whispered in his mind.

Aiden didn't reply. He was sure that she had read his soul just now, undoubtedly finding an arsenal of painful details that she would use to needle him later, but he didn't care. After working with her for so many years, her power no longer fazed him.

"Right, the details," she said as she looked back at the other vampires. "Daybreak is moving our little witch today. They have a small haphazard group taking her out of the compound."

Aiden looked sharply at her. "Moving her where?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"I'm not sure," Angie replied shortly. With all of her power, she hated admitting her occasional ignorance. It was one of the reasons she had been so enraged by his failure—she hadn't seen it coming. "I only know that it will be done today. Now, there are only two ways out of the compound: the main entrance and an underground tunnel that leads to the Silver Spring metro stop.

"Any information you'd like to divulge about the compound itself, Aiden?" she asked him.

"No point," he replied. "It's a fortress. There's no way in for them. Wait until the witch is out."

"Any details about the witch you'd care to share, then?"

"Genevieve Harman." He kept his voice monotone. Cold. Unwavering. "Blond hair, fair skin, violet eyes. Slight build, average height."

And then the words were coming to him rapidly. Useless words, caught in his throat like a clump of broken glass.

_She likes the fuzz on peaches and the grainy sugariness of pears; she paints her nails outrageous colors every few days; she takes twenty minute showers and never blow dries her hair; her face glows when she laughs and when she smiles; she has pink, fluffy slippers and purple satin sheets; she likes soft kisses on the back of her neck, but not near her ears; she knows how to stroke your hair when you're plagued by stress; she keeps a picture of him inside her pillow case; he was her first kiss, her first touch, her first love; she's wise and yet naïve; she'll forgive, but never for—_

"Forgetting anything, Hellraiser?" Angie's husky voice invaded his reverie.

Aiden tightened his fists, tasting blood as he forced himself to swallow the words, feeling them shred his insides all the way down. "No."

"All right, then," she said, turning back to the vagabond vampires, "I think you two have everything you need. You have twenty-four hours to report back to me."

The vampires just nodded dazedly. The girl had turned her head away to look out the window so that Aiden could only see the gleam of her thick, black spiraled hair. He could sense her weariness and in spite of the cost, he wished for a moment that she would look at him again.

The train pulled to a stop at the Chinatown station. Angie slid off the seat and gave Aiden's shirt a firm tug. He reluctantly let the girl and her glossy curls slip away as he followed his boss onto the subway platform.

He hated being here during rush hour, feeling the droves of humans bumping into him as they hurried to work. They pushed and trampled and crammed, each one believing that their time was more valuable than that of everyone else, but in truth they were nothing more than cattle.

"You're so very lucky," Angie purred next to him, raking her long fingernails up and down his arm. "If they succeed, I may not have to kill you after all."

"You've been saying that for days," he replied dispassionately. "Have you nothing new to add? You're beginning to bore me."

Her grip tightened on his arm as she led him to a deserted corner of the platform and backed him against the wall. "Don't try my patience, Aiden. I don't have much left for you."

"Then why don't you let me go?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Is that what you really want? To spend eternity nursing your newborn soul, while our _race_—everything we've fought for—is lost?"

Aiden sighed and looked up at the ceiling. God, how many times had he asked himself that question these past few days? It swarmed around his head incessantly along with the afterimage of _her_ and her violet eyes that looked upon him with love even as he was strangling her.

If Angie read him right now, she gave no sign. She merely waited for his answer with her hands pressed against his chest, her face close to his. Maybe they looked like lovers, standing there against the wall, so far from the rest of the crowd, their voices hushed and heated. Aiden felt a wave of revulsion go through him, making him want to claw his skin off.

Instead he shoved Angie, pushing her back until she had reached the edge of the platform. She stumbled, but caught herself before she fell onto the tracks.

"Don't question me," he snapped, stepping towards her. "You foolish, arrogant bitch. You may be the most powerful telepath in the goddamn Western hemisphere, but that doesn't make me come unhinged. I'm not some vagrant, damaged vampire like your Alexandra, who just happened to stumble into your fantasies. I sought _you_ out from inside Daybreak. Your business here would have been annihilated by now if not for me.

"I failed with the witch, obviously, but I am weary of your endless threats. And I'll tell you something else, Angie: You're going to fail as well. Those drifters don't even know what _she_ is or how to kill her. They'll be incinerated before they come within ten feet of her."

Angie stared at him for a long moment. Then a smile cracked on her face and she began to laugh hysterically. "Would you do that speech for me again? That was priceless. You should see your expression, Hellraiser."

"Don't call me that!" he roared. He strode up to her, grabbed her collar and threw her back against the wall. Still clenching the fabric of her shirt, he hissed, "And don't—_don't_—patronize me."

She stopped laughing and looked at him soberly. "Careful, Aiden," she said quietly. "If you ruin this blouse, I really will kill you."

He let go of her, backing away and realized his hands were shaking; he'd been holding on to her too tightly. Fine tremors shot up his arms.

_Don't see that love in the last glimpse of shining violet iris. Don't see her love with your hands around her throat!_

He put his face in his hands and rubbed it roughly, trying in vain to scrub away the images behind his eyes, trying to will himself away from his soulmate and back into the present, but it was no use. His walls were gone.

Damn that Alexandra Harper. What had she done to him?

"Go home," Angie said suddenly.

"What?" Aiden looked at her in shock. She was still standing by the wall, watching him with uncommon graveness, her arms crossed over her chest. He couldn't recall a moment that she seemed more serious than she did just then. In spite of the wrinkled blouse and second-skin leather pants, she could have been a trial attorney, standing there. Or a judge. Yes, that was it. A judge about to pass sentence.

"You heard me," she replied. "You're no use to me. She's all you can see."

He shook his head vehemently. "No."

"No, what? It's not true? You know that it is. I've been watching you for days now, Aiden. I thought this might pass, that your loyalty to the Night World, to _me_, would override her, but you're barely even here. You're stuck in that night with her. And you're no good to me like this. You're done."

"I want her dead, Angie! Just as you do." He knew his voice was cracking and he had the humiliating urge to fall on his knees before her. His eyes burned. "I want her dead and gone from this world so I can be free. So I don't have to see her every time I close my eyes. Don't write me off now."

Angie looked at him thoughtfully, waited for him to swallow, to catch his breath.

"I don't—I don't have anything else," he finished softly.

"I can't help you," she said calmly. "I can't trust you. And time is of the essence now, so I can't stay here and watch you beg, as much as I might enjoy that. Go home and take solace in the knowledge that your witch will be dead by nightfall. I'll decide what to do with you then."

She walked past him coldly, her shoulder roughly brushing against his.

"No, she won't be," Aiden whispered. "The drifters will fail."

Angie stopped and turned her head so he could see the profile of her smile. "Oh, I think I've learned something about trusting others with an assignment of this magnitude. Don't you?"

Then she slowly turned back and walked toward the turn styles, quickly becoming lost in a sea of people.


	6. Toxic

Angie and Aiden left the subway at the Chinatown stop, leaving Tristan and Lex riding alone towards Silver Spring with their instructions. They rode in silence and the hum of the train seemed deafening. Tristan had not looked at her, but in the profile of his face Alexandra could see the tension in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. She knew that she should say something, but no words came to her.

She waited.

The metro stopped at station after station. Swarms of humans dressed in business casual pushed their way into and out of the other cars at each stop, but Tristan telepathically held the doors of their car closed. They remained alone.

How many times had they done this? How many times had she waited anxiously as Tristan tried to calm his frustration, tried to find a way to say what he needed to say that wouldn't push her away?

Hundreds, it seemed. Thousands. This tension filled every unexpected break in their conversations. It hovered above them when they went to sleep at night, settling between their bodies when Lex instinctively rolled onto her side at the very edge of the bed. It lingered at the kitchen table in the morning, its thickness dependent upon how many times she had woken up screaming the night before. Some days, she could barely see him through it.

Suddenly, she was overcome with weariness. She shouldn't be with Tristan; he deserved far better. But she couldn't bring herself to leave. It was only with him, for brief moments here and there, that she was able to pretend that she was more than the monster she had once been.

"And what sort of monster is that, Lex?" Tristan snapped. Her mental shields had slipped and he had caught the last of her thoughts. He knew how much it bothered her but he didn't seem to care just then. "Or should I call you 'Soul Stealer'?"

"Don't—" she began.

"Why not?" he countered. He turned toward her, his face flushed and his eyes narrowed. The veins on his neck and forehead throbbed as his blood angrily surged through them, and it made him ugly. For the first time since she'd known him, Lex was afraid. "It's a good enough name for Angie. Are you going to tell me what it means? Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on with you and her?"

He didn't wait for an answer. "No, of course you're not. You never tell me a damn thing. And why should you? I've only been there for you for three years. I only saved your immortal life. I only take care of you and protect you. What have I done to earn your trust?"

His clipped, sarcastic words cut at her and Alexandra found herself looking away helplessly.

"Maybe I ought to ask Angie what she did, because she obviously knows more about you than I do. Did she find you gutted and singed, covered in blisters? Did she take you home, give you blood, bring you back from the brink of death?"

"I never asked you to do that," she whispered, though she knew that was not the point.

Tristan laughed bitterly. "Ever the martyr, Lex."

She looked up at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You tell me," he replied. "You barely drink enough blood to stay alive. You hardly ever eat. You don't tell me anything about your past—where you came from or how the hell you ended up in that burned down building. I don't even know how old you are now, how old you were when you were made. All I know is that you hate it when I read your thoughts, you scream in your sleep, and you're afraid all the time. You can't share anything with anyone; you have to carry it all yourself. What the hell are you punishing yourself for, Lex?"

She gritted her teeth. He was so close to the truth—_too close_—and she couldn't stand it. She couldn't talk about this. The panic welled up inside of her, bursting from her mouth in torrent of harsh words. It was her last line of defense against him. "I never asked you to save me. I never asked you to _stay_ with me, Tristan. You could have left me in the ashes for all I cared. Most days I wish to god that you had. So I'm sorry that I'm such a burden to you, but that was _your _decision. And you are a bastard for trying to hold that over my head. Why should I tell you anything when you'll probably just use that against me as well?"

"Fuck!" Tristan growled. He slammed the heel of his hand against the metal pole in the middle of the aisle and it bent from the blow. "That's not what I'm trying to do here! I just want you to trust me. I want to _know_ you. Do you have any idea what it's like, living with a stranger?"

"You _do_ know me," she argued. "We've been together for three years. You know how I like my coffee. You know my favorite color, my favorite book and movie. You know which side of the bed I like to sleep on…I could go on and on. You know that I care about you. Why can't you let this go? Why are you so desperate to have these insignificant details?"

"Because they're not insignificant!" he shouted at her. "They're what make you who you are. And _you're_ the one who can't let it go. You're so scared. Do you think I can't see it? I'm not stupid, Lex. I know something happened to you—someone hurt you. For a long time. And for some strange, fucked up reason, you seem to blame yourself."

"Stop, stop, stop," she cried. She couldn't listen to this any longer and she had the childish urge to plug her ears and hum as loud as she could.

"And whatever it was, Angie knows about it, doesn't she?" he pressed on heedlessly. "She knew about it the night we met her. You were so freaked out when you came down from her penthouse and you wouldn't tell me what was wrong."

"Look," Alexandra said hastily. "It was nothing. It doesn't matter. I—I don't know what Angie was talking about. I don't know why she was calling me S—Soul—" The name caught in her throat, tying her tongue into a useless knot.

"You can't even say it!" he exclaimed. "Don't lie to me. What does that name mean? Why does it make you so upset? Why does Angie know things about you when I don't even know?"

"She ripped it from my mind, all right!" Lex shouted. "She broke in and used what she saw to torment me, just like _he_ did—over and over and over!"

"What?" Tristan gasped. "Who? I don't understand."

He came to her and tried to touch her hair, but she put her hands up, turning away from him. She was breathing hard, shaking.

What the hell had she just done?

"Lex—"

"_Don't_," she hissed. "Don't ask me any more questions."

Tristan sighed behind her, sounding tired and beaten. Lex would have thought he'd be happy that he'd gotten an answer out of her. It was certainly more than she had ever intended to say. More than she had ever wanted to give anyone. How much more could he possibly ask for?

He moved closer to her until she could feel the warmth of his body against her back. It made her cringe in spite of herself.

"I don't want to hurt you." In spite of his closeness, his familiar oath seemed muted. Distant.

"Then don't," she replied.

They were silent again for a long moment. Lex tried to slow down her breath. It was an old trick; as long as you could breathe deeply and regularly, you could let the world go.

But it didn't work this time. The moment was too awkward. She racked her brain, searching for something to say that would transport them from this craggy conversation of pitfalls and landmines to someplace safe, but she came up short.

"Somehow it always happens anyway," Tristan said quietly.

Alexandra looked up at him from over her shoulder, but she couldn't see his face. He was so much taller than she was and he didn't look down at her.

"Maybe this isn't right," he continued. His voice was still soft, but it was eerily hollow. The arrogant, sarcastic vampire she knew was gone, replaced by this sad, subdued man who was doggedly picking up the dialogue that Lex had left broken and bleeding at his feet, carrying it onward into unknown territory. "This isn't how it should be."

"No," she whispered, her stomach suddenly turning. She felt a cold sweat prickling over her skin. "Don't do this. I need you."

"Maybe. But do you even want me? Or do you just want _someone_? Am I really more than your—'sexy bodyguard'?"

"Don't leave me," Alexandra begged. She turned to face him and clenched his jacket in her fists, but he still did not look at her.

"You can't have it both ways, Lex," he replied. "Just give me something to go on, a scrap of yourself. I'm not asking for a lot. Just show me that there's even a point to us being together. I won't hurt you. I won't use you. Let me prove it to you."

She shook her head slightly, biting her lip. He didn't know what he was asking. "Give me some time," she pleaded.

"I've given you three years."

Glancing away, she searched for an escape. The train shrieked as it pulled into the Silver Spring station, but the doors of their car stayed closed. There was no way out of this.

Looking back at him, she opened her mouth, but there was no sound. The images of her past flashed before her eyes, each flicker more violent than the last, but she had no words to describe it. Her mind was blank.

"Can it wait?" she asked him in a humiliatingly small voice. "Until after we're done with the witch?"

Tristan finally looked down at her. His eyes were bright, shining with unshed tears. Goddamn it, she had never seen him cry before. "Sure," he replied simply, but his falsely light tone told her that she had just blown her last chance.

The doors of their metro car opened and he turned to walk out onto the subway platform without a backward glance. After a moment Lex followed him.

"You stay here," he told her. "Find the entrance to the tunnel and keep watch. I'll stake out the compound. Call my cell if you see anything. Just follow them, all right? Don't do anything until I get here."

She wasn't listening. She felt muddled, trapped under the weight of a thousand unanswered questions. Were they broken up now? Had they ever been together in the first place? What would happen after they killed the witch? Could he really just walk away? Where would she go? What would she do?

"I'm sorry," she suddenly cried. Tristan stopped walking. He kept his back to her, but his head was turned slightly to show her that he was listening. "I would tell you if— I wish I could, but— I can't—"

He turned to her with a sad smile, as if he found her pitiful. "Lex," he breathed. Then he reached for her and kissed her lips chastely.

The kiss tasted of grief and regret. She could feel Tristan's heart breaking and she wanted so badly to pull away, but his fingers were tangled in her hair, holding her still.

When he finally released her, he wordlessly spun around and ran from her. Alexandra felt the small gust of wind left in his wake as he fled up the escalator like the sting of a slap.

It was over.

A sob escaped from her, a low wail that made her double over and crouch on the floor. The tears were like acid in her eyes, melting her skin as they trickled down her cheeks.

Damn it, she had no right to cry. In her mind, she saw Tristan's glistening eyes and she loathed herself for causing him that pain.

God, she was poison. She was toxic. Lex wanted to vomit, but she only wept on her knees in the middle of the station and the humans moved around her as if she wasn't even there.

* * *

Aiden was lost somewhere in Washington, D.C. He had not lifted his head to take in his surroundings for a long while now. His eyes were fixed on the sidewalk before him, on his own long legs and heavy black boots. His neck ached as he dazedly watched himself take step after step, sickened by the knowledge that he was wandering the city aimlessly. 

For perhaps the first time in several decades, there was nowhere he had to be, no one he had to meet, nothing he had to do.

He was restless. Nauseous. Blood thirsty.

Humans passed him on the sidewalk and he purposely let his shoulder brush against theirs. Jostling them. Jostling himself. Searching for a point of reference, an anchor, a certainty. If he could just find some small piece of solid ground, he might be able to crawl his way back to himself.

It was no use. His walls had crumbled, his soul had turned to ash, and Aiden was drifting away. The only tangible thing he could feel was the silver cord that connected him to his witch.

He hated it. He hated her. But after five days of endless agony, he simply lacked the strength to fight it any longer. With a shudder, Aiden surrendered himself to the soulmate link, letting it draw him to his witch. He could almost see the silver cord shimmering as it lifted his feet, bent his knees, and swayed his arms as if he were a marionette—a hapless puppet of fate.

_Never._

His lip curled as a chill passed through him. He'd had more than his fill of fate and destiny. He had never let such things rule him in the past and he would be damned if he was going to yield to them now. He would let the link lead him to his witch, but what happened when he found her would be _his_ choice.

Picking up his pace, Aiden realized that he was smiling. Finally, after days of turmoil, he felt something like himself again.


	7. Two Down

The transformation was awesome in the truest sense of the word. Genevieve and Beth sat cross-legged in the middle of a circle drawn with white chalk on the floor, their backs against each other. Nigel kneeled on one side of the girls, a hand resting on each of their heads as he did the spell. Reece stood outside the circle facing Gen and as the magick worked he felt his breath stop. It was as if her face—her entire body—was melting. It became liquid, dissolving into the intense energy that filled the circle, and when it coalesced, Reece found himself staring at the image of the vampire he had known for so long. Only the blood-stained bandage on her forearm and the disconsolate expression in her hazel eyes hinted at the truth.

"It worked?" she asked softly.

"Mmm…kinky," Carden purred with a crooked smile from the other side of the room. Reece shot him a warning glare, but the lamia laughed it off.

Beth stood up in the circle after Nigel had dispelled the Powers and ran her hands down the sides of her body. "Not bad, witch," she said. "How long will it last?"

"Until my Power runs low," he replied. "It depends on the fight and what other spells I'll have to do. But I'll give this spell priority for as long as I can."

Genevieve still sat on the floor, looking at her hands—Beth's hands. She seemed so small at that moment. So young. Crouching down beside her, Reece asked, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she replied quickly. Then she looked up at him. "Let's just get this over with."

He wanted to touch her. He wanted to gently squeeze her hand like he might a child's and promise her that everything would be all right. But she wasn't a child; she was a Wild Power who had been betrayed by the person she trusted more than anyone. She couldn't bear to be touched any more and she would see his platitudes for what they were. He knew that there was nothing he could do for her beyond completing the job he'd been hired to do.

Reece stood up, determination steeling his bones, slowing his heart rate, turning the corners of his mouth into a hard, grim smile.

Glancing around the room at his team, he met Beth's eyes. She grinned at him, understanding Reece's expression perfectly—she had seen it thousands of times before. "Ready to rock, Cahill?" she asked.

The witch nodded. "You?"

"Hell yes."

"All right," Reece replied. Then he turned slightly to address the entire team. "Let's suit up."

Since the security was so tight after Genevieve's attack, no one had been allowed to bring his or her own weapons inside the compound. Instead, Anton Parish had secretly procured a large chest full of stakes, knives, guns, bullets, crossbows, and Kevlar vests from the compound's stockpile for their use.

Each member of the team approached the arsenal with a slightly different temperament. While Carden sifted through the weapons excitedly, stashing the flashiest and most powerful ones into the zippered pockets of his vest, Sumitra thoughtfully chose a few of the more simple weapons for herself. To prepare for her role as Genevieve Harman, Beth took a revolver as well as a few knives and stakes that could be easily concealed under her ordinary clothing. Nigel, who still seemed to feel some disdain for this violent side of Circle Daybreak, ignored the guns completely and chose only a handful of defensive weapons. Reece, on the other hand, took one of every type of weapon, loading himself up as if he needed to make tangible the weight of his responsibility.

As Carden popped a magazine of silver-tipped wooden bullets into the last of his guns, Beth leaned past him to grab a box of ammunition for her revolver. When she pulled back, he was leering at her, shamelessly letting his gaze wander up and down her body.

Beth pursed her lips. "If you're going to keep looking at me like that, I'm going to start charging," she snapped.

Carden moved into her and slowly ran the barrel of his gun over her cheek and rested it against her temple. "You know, I once met a girl who liked to do it this way. Too bad we decided against the kidnapping plan, baby. It would have been one hell of a turn on."

She sneered at him. "I hate to break it to you, but guns and chauvinist pigs don't do it for me."

The lamia gave her a lazy smile. "Maybe you just haven't met the right chauvinist pig." Then he pensively cocked his head to the side, as if a curious thought had just occurred to him. "I wonder why Hellraiser didn't just shoot Genevieve in the head."

Reece stood aghast. "Carden—"

"She would have been dead before she could put up any kind of fight." The vampire's voice was a soft caress as he stared at his gun appraisingly, unaware of the tension building in the small room. Beth and the rest of the team were stunned into silence, frozen in place as they gaped at him. "Guess you can never be too sure. If there was even a tiny involuntary twitch, the bullet might not kill her, and then she'd make Hellraiser burst into flame."

The strain was palpable then. Reece knew that he had to stop it, but as it wound tighter and tighter, he couldn't bring himself to move.

"Or maybe deep down he always knew he couldn't do it." Carden's voice fell to a whisper. "Watch his soulmate die…"

Suddenly the tension snapped like a cello string and the gun was jerked from the lamia's hand so fast that he cried out in shock. The weapon smashed into his forehead, knocking his head back before it fell to the floor.

There were no questions about who had done it, but nobody except for Reece dared to look at her. Genevieve seemed frail, almost sickly, as she stood in the corner of the room, but the hazel eyes that were not her own were blazing with Power; Beth could never have that look in her eyes. "Don't mention Aiden again," she warned in a low voice.

"Fucking bitch," Carden muttered, rubbing away blood from a gash just above his eyebrow. The wound healed in seconds, but the vampire's lip was still curled in anger.

This was about to get out of control. Reece took a step towards Carden, on the verge of shouting at his teammate, but Beth moved between them. "Come on, Cassinova," she groaned as she grabbed the vampire's wrist. Her tone was softer than Reece would have expected after the scene Carden had just caused and it left him confused. "It's time to get to work."

Beth tugged him out of the room and with a sigh, Nigel followed them. But at the threshold, the British witch paused to throw an apologetic look at Gen. "We're all high strung and we deal with it differently," he tried to explain. "Carden's an ass, but he's good."

The Wild Power said nothing.

As Nigel left, quietly shutting the door behind him, Reece checked his watch. "As soon as I get the signal, we're up," he murmured, unsure if he was speaking to himself or the others. "Five, ten minutes, maybe."

Sumitra caught his eye and nodded towards Genevieve. Jagged energy was still radiating from the witch as she stood with her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

Reece was at a loss. He ran his fingers through his hair—an unconscious anxious gesture. This mission, his new team…suddenly it felt like they were both out of his control. And who the hell had recruited Carden? Whoever it was couldn't have actually _worked_ with him. The vampire may be the best marksman in Daybreak, but Reece doubted that he had ever been part of a team before.

Goddess, he just couldn't think about it now. He needed to focus.

He walked over to Gen, carefully touching her shoulder. "Hey," he whispered. "It's okay. You've got to calm down. You're going to waste whatever Power you've got left."

She shrugged his hand off. "I can't stand this," she hissed.

"I know," he replied. "I'm sorry about Carden."

"I shouldn't have hurt him," Gen said softly. "I'm sorry, but I'm also just…not."

"You're exhausted and you're grieving. Give yourself a break."

She nodded and was quiet for a moment. "I can feel him," she finally said. "Aiden. The soulmate link faded over the past few days, but a little while ago it sparked to life again. It feels like he's right here with me, strangling me all over again. His thoughts are _everywhere_." Squeezing her eyes shut, she drew in a ragged breath. "I don't know which is worse, when I can feel him or when I can't."

Reece didn't reply. There was nothing he could say. Silently he stood next to Gen, offering her the simple, yet paltry comfort of not being alone.

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Beth Cezanne had always been an exceptional liar. In her early days with Reece, her role had usually been to ensnare the enemy, to lead the Night World into a trap. Sometimes she had been bait—just a dumb blond walking home alone from school. As soon as a vampire or a shifter was about to close in on her, the entire team would appear out of nowhere, dusting the enemy in a matter of seconds. Other times, she had infiltrated the Night World in order to locate covens and safe houses. Over the years, she had been everything from a ditz to a slut to a cold-hearted bitch, but playing Genevieve Harman was the most important role of Beth's life. 

Her newly violet eyes stared back at her, reflected in the shining walls of the elevator that slowly lifted her up to the ground floor. She tried to make her expression darker, but she couldn't. There was no way to fake the kind of pain Genevieve was feeling. It didn't matter, though, because very few of the Daybreakers had the guts to see through the witch's weak façade of normalcy. They all suspected that their Wild Power might never recover from her attack, but they didn't dare look into Genevieve's eyes to confirm their fears—there was simply too much at stake.

Right now, Beth was grateful for that. It was going to help them get out of here.

Carden stood behind her, still rubbing his forehead where Genevieve had hit him with his gun. Beth couldn't blame the girl for doing that; she would have loved to beat him to a pulp herself, but she knew that Reece wouldn't have stood for it. And besides, when Carden was speaking before, something in his voice had gotten to her—an unmistakable tremor of pain that made her soften toward him even though he didn't deserve it.

The witch, Nigel, was standing on her right side. He seemed vaguely nervous and somewhat tired already, as if the spell to change her and Gen's appearances had taken more of out him than he'd expected. Even so, the firm set of his mouth reassured Beth that he was ready for this.

The elevator opened onto the ground floor of the compound and Beth led the team out to the main entrance. She paused to take a final deep breath before opening the heavy steel door. "Ready or not," she whispered to herself.

Sunlight flooded through the large windows that lined the main lobby of the compound and she forced herself to keep her eyes wide open—as a witch, Genevieve wouldn't have to squint away from the brightness. After a second, though, she realized that her eyes didn't hurt after all. Circle Daybreak must use a special kind of glass for the vampires here.

As soon as Beth stepped foot in the lobby, she felt the weight of the Daybreaker's stares on her. Everyone had turned to look at her, their gazes filled with confusion, pity, and adoration for their Wild Power. It made her skin crawl a little and she wondered how Genevieve could have lived with this much scrutiny for so long.

There were about twenty Daybreakers here. Five guards by the security station, a few people entering the compound who were being searched by three more guards, a vampire couple who stopped to catch a glimpse of Gen on their way out of the building, and a custodian. All the Night World races were covered. Only three humans.

Beth's heart began to pound and she used it to her advantage; she let her hands and her lips tremble from it as she strode over to the security station with Nigel and Carden following her.

"Miss Harman," one of the guards behind the tall desk addressed her. "What are you doing out here? It's not safe for you."

"It's not safe for me anywhere!" Beth shrieked back at him. If any of the Daybreakers hadn't been watching her before, they certainly were now. The lobby fell silent. Beth ran her hands through her long blond hair and pulled at it desperately. "I—I have to get out of here. Now!"

The guard was anxious and he looked around him for help. A female guard—a witch—came to his rescue and Beth could feel her trying to force calming energy on her. "Genevieve," she said softly, "It's okay. You're not thinking clearly. You _are_ safe here. Aiden won't come after you again."

"Don't say his name!" Beth screamed, pointing her finger at the witch accusingly. "He got in here and he almost killed me. Don't you dare try to placate me!"

"I'm sorry, you're right," the woman said quickly. For the first time she glanced at Nigel and Carden, who were standing behind Beth. "Who are your friends?" she asked suspiciously. "You know we've increased security. We aren't allowing any new people to enter the compound."

"Like that would help," Beth spat. She wanted to steer the conversation away from Nigel and Carden. Neither of them was associated with this compound, but they were still Daybreakers, so there was a slim chance that someone here would recognize them. If that happened, their cover would be blown. "Aiden wasn't new. He was here long before I got here. You all knew him and trusted him, so now I can't trust any of you."

"I know you're overwrought, Gen, but maybe we should escort you back to your room so that you can rest."

The witch began to circle around the security desk and Beth knew that this was the right moment. She reached under her sweater and grabbed the revolver that she had hidden in the waistband of her pants. Her hands shaking, she brought the gun up to her temple and cocked it. Nigel and Carden whirled around and drew their own weapons, covering her from behind.

"Stay back!" she shouted. "Don't come near me. I'll pull the trigger, I swear."

Putting her hands up, the witch froze as if Beth was trying to rob her. "Gen!" she gasped.

"I'm getting the hell out of here," Beth told the guards. "I'll be safer out there on my own. If you try to stop me or follow me, I will shoot myself. I'd rather die than be locked up in this compound with all of you staring at me as if I were a goddamn messiah. I'd rather die than live here, knowing that the Night World can get to me any time they want."

"But Gen," the first guard interrupted, "what about the war? Our world will be destroyed without you."

"The world can go screw itself," she replied bitterly. "It certainly screwed me."

Beth backed up slowly, holding her gun to her head while her teammates stayed pressed against her. Some of the Daybreakers in the lobby had started to cry and she felt momentarily sorry for them. They didn't understand that this was what needed to be done to keep the Wild Power safe.

_It's a go_, she told Reece telepathically. She hoped this would give him enough of a distraction to get out.

She looked around wildly, seeming edgy and possessed as she made her way to the door of the compound. Once they reached it, Carden kicked the door open and the three of them ran out onto the street.

They weren't sure what to expect at this point. The guards could follow them or they could shoot down Nigel and Carden as they ran. The latter seemed unlikely, though. The Daybreakers couldn't risk shooting Genevieve, even to give her a non-lethal wound, because if she called on the blue fire, she could level the compound if she wanted. Beth just hoped that the Daybreakers believed Gen was hysterical enough to be capable of doing that. The best-case scenario would be that they were simply too stunned to know how to react, so they would call as many guards as possible to the lobby to formulate a plan to bring their Wild Power back.

In the meantime, Beth, Nigel, and Carden ran towards Washington, D.C. Boosting a car was the fastest way for them to get out of the city, but it would be easier to find a cheap car to steal downtown.

"Turn right at the end of this block," Beth shouted to the others as she ran. "We want to stay off of the main roads."

Just before she reached the turn, she heard a strange, soft _pop_ from somewhere above and behind her. She started to look back to see what had happened, but then the sidewalk came rushing up at her.

Unable to stop in time, Nigel tripped over her as she hit the ground. "Carden!" she heard him call. "She's been shot!"

_Shot?_

The concrete felt cool against her face and Beth shivered. Her chest was burning, but the rest of her body was so cold. A layer of ice was quickly spreading over her limbs, rendering her motionless.

"Beth, look at me," Nigel ordered. She knew that her eyes were open, but it seemed like a dark veil was draped over her. She could hardly make out the witch's face as he leaned over her and brushed her hair back. "Can you hear me? Beth!"

She tried to speak, but the sound she made was nothing more than a gasp.

Then she heard Carden's voice above her. "Fuck. Sniper shot. We've got to move, witch. We can't stay out in the open like this."

"But Beth…"

"She's dead," he said shortly. "We're not yet. Come on!"

Beth heard their footsteps fade as she began to fade away as well. The last thought that whispered through her mind was simply, _Cahill_…

* * *

The minutes seemed endless as they silently waited. Sumitra had begun to do some Tai Chi exercises while Reece started to pace. The Wild Power had said nothing more to him and she seemed to have slipped away into her own thoughts. 

Reece reached out with his mind again, desperate to feel a trace of the Elements, but once more found them too far to sense. He let out a breath of frustration.

Finally he heard Beth's breathless voice in his mind. _It's a go._

"Time," he said to Sumitra and Gen.

The girls followed him to the door and he opened it carefully. He poked his head out and made sure that the hallway was deserted before he slid out of the room. Quickly, the three of them walked to the stairwell with Reece leading the way and Sumtra trailing behind Gen, giving the Wild Power the safest position in the line.

When they reached the door to the stairs, Reece ducked and pulled Gen down with him. Through the small window on the door, he saw a group of Daybreakers running at full speed up the stairs toward the ground floor. After another moment, a few more of them passed by as well. The news about "Genevieve's" escape had obviously spread as fast as they had hoped.

"If anyone else comes, just try to blend in; pretend to be in a panic over the Wild Power," Reece advised his team.

"That should be easy enough," Sumitra replied dryly.

He opened the door to the stairwell and looked down at the flights of spiraling stairs below them. No one else was coming up. "All right, let's go," he whispered to the girls.

They had made it up five flights when a thin, silent whisper trailed down Reece's spine like a shiver of terror. _Cahill…_

He came to an abrupt halt on the steps and clutched the cold, metal railing in one hand. "Beth," he gasped.

"What's the matter?" Genevieve asked from behind him.

Reece shook his head, straining his ears and his mind as he listened for his teammate. For the first time in his life, he cursed the fact that he was a witch and could not telepathically search for her; he could only wait for her to contact him.

"I can't feel her," Sumitra said quietly, confirming Reece's fears. "Something went wrong."

"We've got to run," he said in a thick voice as he turned to the lynx. "You shift and take Genevieve. You'll be much faster in your cat form."

"It'll draw attention," she reminded him.

"I know. But we have no idea what happened out there to the others. Let's just get Gen out of here as fast as possible." He glanced down the stairwell again, but it was still empty. "Don't look back, Sumitra. Just keep running."

The dark-haired girl nodded hesitantly and began to shift into her animal form.

"What about you?" Genevieve asked him.

"I'll be right behind you. Now go!" he urged.

Without another word, Gen straddled the large, black lynx and wrapped her arms around the cat's neck. Then they were nothing more than a blur as Sumitra sprinted gracefully up the stairs with the Wild Power on her back.

Reece took off after them, but he knew that he would never be able to catch up to Sumitra; her speed was incredible, even with Genevieve's weight on her. Still, he ran as fast as he could, his muscles burning as he fled up the stairs two at a time. He concentrated his Power on his legs, helping ease the pain of exertion as he pushed himself harder.

Finally he burst through the door onto the fourth underground floor of the compound. Without breaking stride, he raced down the hallway.

A few yards away, he saw a couple of Daybreakers gathered in the middle of the hall. They were circled around a male vampire who was lying unconscious on the floor, blood oozing from large gashes on his arm. Sumitra and Gen were nowhere in sight, so whatever the vampire had done, at least they had gotten by him.

He ran past the group and they hardly took notice of him as they tended to the injured vampire.

When he turned the corner, he found Sumitra fighting off a wolf, keeping herself between the wolf and Genevieve. The witch was pressed against the wall, her chest heaving as she tried to summon enough Power to help the fight. An orange fireball shot from her open palm, but it burned out before it could do any damage.

The wolf growled deeply and lunged at the lynx, sinking its teeth into her neck as it slammed her into the ground.

Reece called out a spell and the wolf was suddenly frozen on top of Sumitra. The lynx kicked the paralyzed shifter off of her. Blood matted the fur around her throat as she rolled over and pushed herself onto her back legs.

"Thanks," Sumitra croaked after she had changed back into her human form. "Good timing."

"What happened?"

"The vampire back there saw me with Gen. He was about to run into an office to call down the guards, so I had to take him down." She paused to catch her breath. "I thought I did it quietly, but this shifter must have heard because he was lying in wait for me as soon as I got around the corner."

Reece nodded, eyeing the ugly lacerations crisscrossing the lynx's neck and shoulder. "I need to heal you," he told her. "You're losing too much blood."

"No time, Cahill. I'm fine for now. The wolf and the vamp are the only ones who saw me, but more Daybreakers will be coming any second."

"All right," Reece replied begrudgingly. "The entrance to the tunnel is at the end of this hall."

Genevieve stepped away from the wall and started to follow him, but then she wavered on her feet. "My Power is too low," she whispered, gripping her bandaged forearm. "I can't keep the cut open any longer."

"Don't worry about it," he replied, even though he was silently cursing their luck. He had really hoped that her Power would hold out for a while longer.

He tried to put an arm around Gen to help support her weight, but she backed away from him, shaking her head vehemently. "I'm fine."

Reece knew it was a lie, but he didn't try to argue with her. "Come on, then. We're almost out of here."

With Genevieve laboring at his side, he jogged down the hall. Sumitra was right behind them, covering their backs even as her blood dripped onto the floor.

"Someone's coming!" the lynx suddenly hissed. Then in one rapid movement, she pulled the other two with her through a door into the men's bathroom.

As the door swung shut, Reece realized that the Daybreakers would see the trail of Sumitra's blood stop in front of the bathroom. He quickly cast a small spell, making red stains appear on the floor of the hallway lead around a corner towards a different wing of the building.

Seconds later they heard someone run by and call, "This way!"

There was a loud rumble of footsteps and then silence.

"Thank the Goddess for shapeshifter hearing," Reece whispered.

Sumitra smiled weakly in response.

He opened the door a crack and saw that the hallway was empty. "We're clear," he whispered.

They fled out of the men's room and finally reached the entrance to the tunnel. It appeared to be an ordinary door to yet another office, but it could not be opened without the proper spell.

Reece whispered the words and pushed at the door with his mind, but nothing happened. Disconcerted, he tried again. Still nothing. "Damn it!" he hissed. "I need more Power."

Genevieve shook her head. "I don't have any more," she whispered.

"Use me," Sumitra offered.

He looked her over, shaking his head. Blood was still oozing from the wound on her neck and she couldn't seem to catch her breath. "I can't," Reece replied. "You'll die."

"If you don't," she argued, "then you and Genevieve won't get out. All of this will be for nothing. Just do it now before I lose any more energy."

Reluctantly, he took the shifter's hand. "I can't pull energy from you against your will," he explained. "You have to push it at me, okay?"

Sumitra nodded and closed her eyes. Immediately Reece felt her life force flooding him. He cast the spell again and shoved at the door with all of his Power and the energy the shapeshifter had given him.

As the door opened, he and Sumitra fell forward as if they had physically thrown themselves at it. For a moment, he just on the ground of the tunnel, gasping for breath, but the shapeshifter next to him was motionless.

Genevieve hurried in after them and slammed the door shut behind her. Then she came to lean over Sumitra, dipping her fingers in the blood that coated the shifter's throat as she felt for a pulse. "She's dead," she said dully.

Reece pulled himself up and rested his head on his knees. He had lost people before; it was inevitable. Good friends he'd been laughing with one day were dust the next. It always hurt, but it had never been like this—he'd never been the one to cause it. Sumitra had sacrificed herself willingly, he understood that, but it did nothing to dispel his guilt.

Genevieve reached out to him tentatively as if she wanted to comfort him, but her hand froze mid-air as she hissed sharply through her teeth. She fell to her knees, pressing the heels of her hands against her temples. All of the color had drained from her face, leaving her complexion a ghastly shade of gray. In spite of her pallor, she was smiling almost wistfully. "He's coming," she breathed. "He's coming for me. Oh Goddess, Aiden…"

Gritting his teeth, Reece forced himself to get up. There was no time for despair now; they needed to keep moving. If Hellraiser was going to come after his soulmate again, Reece needed to be ready.

He took the Wild Power's arm, helping her to her feet, and for once she didn't recoil from his touch. "Genevieve?" he asked worriedly.

Her eyes stared back at him blankly. It was as if the stress had finally become too much for her soul to bear and it simply shattered.

Reece tightened his grip on her arm and pressed her onward. If he didn't get her to safety soon, it would no longer matter if she was alive or dead; either way, there would be nothing left of her.


	8. Fall Apart

From her position across the street, Angie Catellini squinted at the Daybreakers as they tearfully lifted the blond girl's body from the sidewalk and lay it onto a stretcher. Reverently, they smoothed her tangled hair and gently closed the lids of her vacant violet eyes. They touched the girl whom they believed to be their fallen Wild Power as if she was made of glass, her body easily shattered by the slightest jolt. On every level of consciousness, they were all consumed with grief.

For a moment, Angie envied the dead girl. It was a dangerous thought, but she couldn't help it. There had been so many moments in her life when she'd thought she couldn't bear the cacophony of voices in her head any longer. Kneeling on the floor, she would hold a wooden blade against her wrists as her useless tears dribbled down her cheeks. Scraping at the surface layers of her skin, she would try to imagine what it felt like to die, to be embraced by the silence, weightless and free. She might have succumbed to the pain and curiosity by now if it hadn't been for one person.

Aiden St. Helen.

Angie could still remember the night he had first approached her, catching her off-guard as she finished slaughtering a family of tourists on Capitol Hill.

"Not bad," he'd remarked as he stepped out of the shadows. His silvery eyes surveyed the bodies scattered on the ground. "That's your third family tonight."

"Fifth in the past two nights," Angie had replied haughtily. Killing was the only thing that ever provided respite from the din in her mind—the constant roar of thoughts, memories, and emotions of every living thing on the earth.

"Ninth in the last four," Aiden had returned. "Not to mention the number of families that your disciples have picked off."

"You've been following me?" She'd lifted her chin defiantly. "Who the hell are you?"

The tall, lanky vampire moved closer to her until the inner workings of his soul were distinguishable from the background. Focusing on a single person normally took a great deal of effort and it eventually gave Angie a raging headache, but there was something about Aiden that actually soothed her. Where she usually felt chaos in others, in him there was compartmentalization. His conscious mind was perfectly clear and methodical, and more deeply divided from his subconscious than any she had ever seen.

"Your work is impressive," he had continued, ignoring her questions. "But it's also rather inefficient, don't you think?"

Angie had crossed her arms over her chest as she flashed a smile at him. "You got a better idea?" She'd seen the answer in his mind already, but she wanted to hear him say it. It was a test of his honesty and audacity.

He answered her without hesitation. "Circle Daybreak has found the last Wild Power. Arrangements are being made to bring her here." Then it had been his turn to smile, the slight upturned corner of his mouth standing in stark contrast to his cold gray eyes. "Think about it: with one bullet we can destroy the only hope the human race has. They'll be eradicated from the face of the earth."

Wordlessly, Angie had stared at him as the idea had taken hold of her.

All of the humans dead.

Billions of souls gone from this world.

Quiet, at long last.

By some miracle, she had managed to keep herself from weeping with relief. She'd known that such a display of emotion would repulse the icy vampire who was watching her so carefully. In a way, this was a test of his own. "You don't need me for that," she'd said as indifferently as possible. "You're _in_ Circle Daybreak."

She had thrown that detail in his face, hoping to startle him, but Aiden's expression hadn't changed. For a moment, she'd wondered if he already knew about her telepathy, but then she realized that he simply didn't care. He hadn't believed that he had anything to hide from her or from himself.

And at that moment, at least, that had been true.

"I can kill the witch," he'd agreed. "But when all of that is said and done, I want something more. Something you already have."

"Washington, D.C.," she'd murmured. She could taste his ambition, a sharp acidic flavor on her tongue.

He had nodded. "You have brought the Night World back to this city; you've wrenched it from Circle Daybreak's grasp. Every day you gain more followers, more respect. But if we help each other, we will both end up with more power than we could have secured on our own." Aiden had extended his hand to her. "Do we have a deal?"

Thinking back on it, Angie wished that she had walked away from him. She wished that she had stolen his plan and assassinated the Wild Power herself the very day that the witch arrived in D.C. It would have been worth the risk of Daybreak finding her at the airport and killing her on the spot.

Instead she had placed her faith in Aiden St. Helen. And in return for her stupidity, she had gotten nothing but failure after failure after failure.

The scene across the street blurred before her eyes. She blinked forcefully, but it did nothing to improve her sight. Her body was shaking from the sheer intensity of the din in her mind. If she wanted any chance of silencing it she needed to move, but Angie couldn't stop staring at the dead girl—the vampire who wore the face of Aiden's soulmate.

She had never seen her in the flesh before. Inside of Aiden's mind, the girl had been radiant, almost ethereal. Looking at her now, Angie was incensed to find that Genevieve Harman was utterly unremarkable. Just a plain, shapeless body draped with limp, stick-straight hair.

How could such an ugly, vapid girl captivate and ultimately ruin someone like Aiden?

Feeling the anger swell inside her again, Angie forced herself to turn away from the dead vampire. Forced herself to laugh flippantly. She couldn't afford to lose her temper now; that did nothing but make the din louder, and this wasn't over yet.

The team in charge of transporting the Wild Power had pulled a clever trick, splitting the group up and using one of their own as a decoy, but working with Aiden had taught Angie how Daybreakers strategize, so she had anticipated their move. She knew that if she hurried to the evacuation tunnel, she would make it in time to intercept the real Wild Power. With less than half of the team guarding the witch, killing her would be a cakewalk.

Her head throbbing, Angie turned on her heel and headed down the street. But she hadn't made it more than half a block when she ran into someone, knocking him over with the force of her momentum.

"Hey, watch it, you—" The man started to snap, but the words were lost as his jaw dropped open. "Angie?"

It took her a long moment to recognize the darkly handsome vampire who was still sitting on the ground. Those few seconds of anger had already taken their toll on her; her mind was too muddled.

Tristan Chaucer stood up, straightening his leather jacket indignantly. The sniper rifle he had used to kill "Genevieve Harman" was in a bag that was slung over his shoulder. "I did what you asked," he told her. "I killed the witch."

Angie smiled, slipping seamlessly into the role of the shallow, power-hungry slut that nearly everyone believed her to be. "Actually, if you weren't so dense, you would have realized that the girl you killed was a Daybreaker who was made to look like the witch."

The vampire paled. "Oh shit," he said under his breath. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. Then he hastily held his hands up as Angie took a threatening step toward him. "Wait, wait. You said we had twenty-four hours. I can still do this. I still have time!"

She just laughed. "You know, I misjudged you. With your attitude, I thought you wouldn't be able to resist going after the Daybreakers directly. Instead you climbed up to a rooftop, stole a gun from one of Daybreak's own soldiers, and quietly took the witch out with a single shot to the heart." She sighed dramatically. "What can I say, Chaucer? You're smart. Prudent. And you're a great sniper. But unfortunately snipers make lousy diversions, so I'm afraid that you're really of no use to me any more."

Realization dawned in the vampire's dark eyes as Angie drew the gun that she kept strapped to the small of her back. The weapon was loaded with silver-tipped wooden bullets, capable of killing humans and Night People alike. Immortality meant so little in the face of technology.

"Shit," Tristan whispered again.

Angie's smile broadened as she fired at his head and watched his body crumple onto the ground. She felt an instant of silence in her mind as this vampire's voice disappeared forever.

So sweet, so perfect.

The next moment the din rose again, as if it had never wavered. Pain sang through her body and her eyes stung with hot tears. She blinked them away and broke into a run again.

She had to make it.

This had to end.

* * *

Lex sat on the edge of the metro platform, cradling her knees against her chest as carefully as she might her heart. Slowly, she rocked back and forth. When a train pulled into the station, the wind blew her hair into her face and she made no move to brush it out of the way. Through the veil of dark curls, she watched the humans get on and off the subway. She watched the crowds thin out as the morning waned. Every so often, she checked her cell phone to see if she had missed Tristan's call. Then she would slip the phone back into her pocket, unsure if she was disappointed or relieved.

Because what was left for them to say?

_Just give me something to go on, a scrap of yourself. I'm not asking for a lot._

God, he could never understand. Anything Lex told him would only lead to more questions. There were no scraps when it came to her life; it was all or nothing. And if she gave him all of it, she was certain that he would leave her. With nothing.

But hadn't he done that anyway?

Lex bit her lip and shook her head slightly, answering her own question. Tristan may have left, but at least there hadn't been any disgust in his eyes. At least the sordid pictures she would have painted for him wouldn't haunt him for the rest of his life. At least he wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night with an uncontrollable urge to take a scalding shower and scrub the memory of her from his skin.

Hugging her legs against a wave of nausea, Alexandra slammed her head against her knees. The ache reverberated through her, easy and consuming.

Why couldn't pain always be this simple?

Not so long ago, pain was all that she knew; she had born it and inflicted it with the single-mindedness that only a slave could comprehend. She had thought that escaping from her maker would put an end to it, but instead it had matured from something sharp and cold and focused into a hot churning sickness.

Or maybe she was the one who had matured. In the past three years, she had experienced kindness and she had witnessed mercy—virtues that she had all but forgotten the day that she had been changed into a vampire. The world without her maker was brimming with the humanity that he had stolen from her, and while she wanted to gulp it down feverishly, she choked on each sip. The taste of it reminded her of how much innocence she herself had stolen.

Her stomach heaved again. She leaned forward until her body was balanced on the very edge of the metro platform. Staring down at the tracks, she thought about how easy it would be to let go and fall into the path of the next train. She had died so many times already; what was one more?

A shockwave of Power startled her as it whipped through the air, blowing out the lights in the station. Stricken with a sudden sense of vertigo, Lex scrambled back from the edge of the platform and pressed herself against the wall. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she peered carefully into the tunnel and saw two people—two witches—walking down the subway tracks.

Her heart pounding, Alexandra grabbed her cell phone and dialed Tristan's number.

No answer.

She checked her signal and saw that she had good reception, so she tried again.

And again.

And again.

Christ, why the hell wouldn't he pick up?

The witches approached the station and the male witch boosted the female up onto the platform before pulling himself up as well.

Alexandra frowned. Though the girl was blond, she didn't really fit Aiden's description of the Daybreak target. Her skin had a slightly olive hue and she was a little too muscular. And when Lex caught a glimpse of the girl's blank eyes, she saw that they were hazel instead of violet.

Still, they had come out of the tunnel that led to the Daybreak compound. And the male witch seemed edgy as he wrapped the girl's arm over his shoulder and hauled her toward the exit.

They had to know something.

As soon as the witches hobbled over the turn styles, the lights came back on. The humans in the station looked back and forth at each other in confusion, but none of them even glanced at the witches. The darkness must have cloaked them too well for the humans to see.

Lex, however, could not take her eyes off of the witches as they stepped onto the escalators. Blindly, she dialed Tristan's phone again, but he still didn't answer.

Anxiety flooded her. This wasn't like him. Even if he were angry with her, Tristan would never make her go after the Daybreakers alone; he knew that Alexandra couldn't fight well. He'd tried several times over the years to teach her a few defensive moves, but she had always been too self-conscious and uncomfortable in her own body to learn.

But the witches were almost out of her sight now. She was going to have to make a decision without Tristan.

Cursing under her breath, Lex ran across the subway platform to follow the Daybreakers. At least for now all she had to do was run, and that was something she knew she was good at.

* * *

Genevieve slumped against Reece as he came to a halt on the sidewalk above the metro exit and tried to get his bearings. He had scouted the neighborhood the night he had arrived in D.C., but it seemed so different in the light of day with so many people out on the streets.

His lungs were burning. Since they broke out of the compound, Gen had receded into a catatonic state, so Reece had had to practically drag her through the evacuation tunnel. He was on the brink of exhaustion and he needed backup, but he had to find a safe place for them to rest first.

"Come on," he said to Gen even though he wasn't sure she could hear him. He readjusted his hold on her, supporting almost all of her weight, and headed west down the street. After trudging two blocks, he turned onto a narrow road lined with newly constructed townhouses. The third house had no cars in the driveway, so he decided to take a chance on it.

Leading Genevieve around the back of the house, he found a sliding glass door that opened into the basement. Reece cast a small spell to unlock the door and then he quickly pulled the Wild Power inside with him.

For a few minutes he just stood there on the balls of his feet as he listened for any sound from upstairs, but it was silent. There was no one home. "Thank the Goddess for small favors," he breathed.

Scanning the room, Reece saw that the basement had been refurbished into an extra bedroom and whoever lived there was a slob. There was garbage spread on the floor, old food stuck on plates by the TV, and the air smelled of stale sweat. Making a mental note to sterilize his hand later, he brought Genevieve over to the bed and pushed aside a pile of dirty clothes so that there was room for her to sit down.

He kneeled down before the Wild Power and searched her hazel eyes for some sign of awareness. "Gen?" he tried. There was no flicker of response. Carefully, he touched her face. "Look, if you're in there somewhere, please come back. We're out of the compound and I've got you someplace safe. I'm going to call the others for help and I promise you that we'll get you out of this city."

The witch only stared at the floor in front of her.

Shit, this was not good.

Reece sighed heavily as he retrieved his cell phone from his vest pocket. Anxiously, he pressed the speed dial button for Beth's phone, but she didn't answer. His throat tight, he resigned himself to trying someone else on the second team, half hoping neither of them answered so that he could cling to some shred of hope that Beth was still alive.

But Jonas Carden picked up on the first ring. His breathless voice was so loud that Reece had to hold the phone a few inches away from his ear. "Cahill, did you get out?"

"Yeah," he replied. "We're out, but we lost Sumitra. Gen and I are in the basement of a townhouse a few blocks away from the metro station. Where are you?"

"Nigel and I are running like hell down Georgia Avenue," the vampire replied. Then in a more serious tone, he added, "Beth's down. It was a sniper. Clean shot."

Reece squeezed his eyes shut against the onslaught of pain.

Goddess, no. Not Beth. In his mind's eye, he could still see her as the gangly girl he'd met almost ten years ago—all legs and eyes and wild blond hair. At the time, he'd been thirteen while she'd only been eleven, so naturally Reece had felt protective of her. But with one vicious roundhouse kick to the ribs that left him gasping for breath on the ground, Beth had proven that she was capable of protecting herself. Even as a child she had been so strong and skilled and dedicated.

How could she possibly be dead?

He never should have brought her down here. How was he going to tell his team back home about this…

"Cahill?" Carden shouted. "You still there?"

Reece took a deep, unsteady breath and opened his eyes again. Through his hot tears he saw Genevieve sitting on the bed, her blank face and dead eyes a sick imitation of his best friend, and he had to turn away from her. He couldn't think about Beth right now; he still had a job to do. "Yeah," he said. Then he cleared his throat and tried again. "I'm here."

"You need backup?" his teammate asked.

"Yes," Reece replied. "Gen isn't in good shape and I could use Nigel's help to heal her. I took some Power from Sumitra, but I've already burned through most of it." He gave the vampire his location. "There's a Starbucks on the corner; we'll meet you there.

"There's a Starbucks on every corner, Cahill," Carden snorted.

Reece smiled wryly in spite of himself. "Shockingly enough, there's only one at this intersection."

"Got it. We're about five minutes out."

* * *

As she ran through downtown Silver Spring, Angie charged through the storm raging inside her head and focused on Alexandra Harper's mind.

It was a place she knew well.

Over the years, Angie had heard stories of other beings—vampires, witches, and even humans—whose telepathic abilities rivaled hers, but Lex was the first one she had ever encountered in person. That alone had been reason enough for Angie to become infatuated with the girl, but Lex's power also intrigued her for another reason: she had the ability to turn it off.

That first night in her penthouse Angie had taunted the vampire girl, chiding her for wasting her gift. She had played upon Lex's fears, lecturing her on the importance of power and reminding her how it felt to have none. Her words had been calculatedly wise and cruel and glib, designed to conceal the envy that seethed underneath it all.

After that night Angie had stolen into Lex's mind as often as she could stand, sifting through all of the slaughter and sniveling, desperate to catch a glimpse of the moment when the girl's power flared to life and, in a panic, Lex snuffed it out like the flame of a candle. Over and over again, Angie studied that moment, trying to discover how the hell the girl did it, but she eventually concluded that Lex's power was just fundamentally different from hers.

Fucking bitch didn't know how lucky she was. And for that, Angie wanted Alexandra dead, but she couldn't afford to kill her just yet; the vampire girl was proving to be too useful at the moment.

Angie could have ordered any one of her people to stake out the compound's evacuation tunnel—as long as she was familiar with someone, she could single out the vibration of their mind in the din—but having Lex there was almost as good as being there herself. Although the vampire girl was too deep in denial to be aware of it, as she watched the Daybreak witches wait for help outside of a Starbucks, Lex's power was flickering. Those tiny microbursts of insight told Angie that the Wild Power was broken beyond salvation, and that the male witch—the leader of the Daybreak team—was tired and drained.

They were both open to attack.

Angie dug in deep, running as fast as she could. She knew exactly where Lex and the Daybreakers were, and she was only a few blocks away now. As long as she got there before the cavalry arrived, there would be nothing standing between her and Genevieve Harman.

* * *

Alexandra shivered again. Her skin crawled. She needed to walk, but she didn't dare move from her hiding place behind the dumpster. She couldn't risk being spotted by the Daybreak witches who were standing outside of a coffee shop only a few yards away from her.

Although she hadn't been sure when she'd started, the longer Lex followed the Daybreakers, the more certain she became that they were somehow involved in the mission to transport Angie's witch. They were both dressed in black clothing and heavy zippered vests which seemed thick enough to stop a bullet, for one thing. And there was something about the way the male witch moved—quickly, but stealthily—that reminded Lex of a solider she had killed a few months ago. He was definitely military of some sort.

But the female witch was strange. Her body seemed lean and toned, and she wasn't hurt in any way, but she was leaning against the side of the building as if she didn't have the strength to support her own weight. And in all the time Lex had been watching her, she hadn't seen the girl blink once. It was as if she weren't really there.

Alexandra knew that trick. Her maker hadn't allowed her to use it, but in the last few years, she had become rather adept at it. The only problem was that no matter how deep into yourself you withdrew, sooner or later you had to come back. And when you did, everything would be just as you left it.

You would still be yourself.

But who were these witches? Why were they standing here outside this coffee shop? If they were in the middle of a critical Daybreak mission, why would they be stopping for a moccachino?

Her skin prickled again, as if she was being watched, but the witches hadn't looked in her direction.

Lex tried to stave off a wave of fear. Her maker had resided in her soul for so long that sometimes the empty space he had once occupied missed him, like a phantom limb. That's all that this was.

_Your mind is your own_. _Everything is okay._

She had to breathe. She had to remember the litany, to recite it over and over again.

_Your mind is your own. Everything is okay._

It didn't help. She could feel eyes on her. Over her. In her. They seduced. Controlled. Enslaved.

_Your mind is your own. Everything is okay._

Goddamn it, she needed Tristan.

No. He'd been right. She didn't need him, she just needed_someone_—some warm body to hold down and overcome one shudder at a time. Anyone would do. Some guy from the coffee shop, maybe. Or the man waiting across the street for the bus. Or even the Daybreaker witch with the spiky red hair and sculpted muscles…

Seized by reckless desperation, Lex was on the verge of doing just that when a vampire and another witch suddenly emerged from around the corner. Out of breath and drenched in sweat, the newcomers spoke with the red-haired witch, but their voices were too soft for Alexandra to hear. Every now and then one of them gestured to the blond girl who was still leaning against the wall, and all of their expressions turned grim.

The vampire turned away from the rest of the group and stood guard as the new witch, who had dark hair and a compact body, approached the girl. Gently he put his hands on her shoulders and stared into her face while the red-haired witch looked on. The air around them seemed to take on a swirling, milky glow.

They were trying to bring the girl back.

But only a few seconds later, the vampire called out as Angie Catellini appeared on the street corner. A sharp gasp escaped Lex's lips as she instinctively took a step back, but after a moment she realized that she wasn't really surprised.

The Night World governor calmly walked over to the Daybreakers, but the seductive sway of her hips seemed a little stilted. A little angry, even.

The red-haired witch, who seemed to be the leader of the group, put himself in front of the blond girl and stood incredibly still as he eyed Angie warily.

Lex could hear the low timbre of the Night World governor's voice as she spoke only a few words. Then, almost too fast to see, Angie drew a gun and shot at the girl. The leader pushed the target down and threw himself in front of the bullet, which grazed his shoulder. "Nigel, take Genevieve and run!" he shouted to the dark-haired witch.

_Genevieve._

Lex gasped again as the name went through her like a blade. God, she had been so dense. The blond witch was the one whom Angie wanted dead; her appearance had just been altered, probably with some kind of spell. And on some level, Lex had known it, but she hadn't _wanted_ to know that she knew.

The short, dark-haired witch—Nigel—grasped Genevieve's arm and hauled her down the side street, straight in the direction of Lex's hiding place. The blond girl's feet moved, but her hazel eyes were still dazed.

The Daybreak leader and the vampire stayed behind to fight Angie, and she was beating them back brutally. A stake appeared in the leader's hand, but as he thrust the weapon forward, Angie ducked under his outstretched arm and threw a hard hook to his side. Then she dove for the ground and rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the slice of the other Daybreaker's knife. Getting to her feet, she tried to run past the both of them, but the leader lunged forward and kicked the back of Angie's right knee, knocking her down.

Meanwhile, Nigel and Genevieve were almost upon Lex. Anxiously, she hid herself further behind the dumpster and huddled low to the ground.

_I'd stop them if I were you_, Angie's voice suddenly pierced her mind. Startled, Lex looked up to find the Night World vampire staring directly at her. _If you don't help me, both you and your sexy bodyguard are dead, Soul Stealer._

There was a strange pulse in Angie's energy when she'd alluded to Tristan, but Alexandra didn't have time to think about it. The witches were so close now and as they ran by, she did the only thing that came to mind: she stuck her leg out from behind the dumpster. The male witch, who was running hard, tripped over her leg and pitched forward, landing face down on the pavement.

To Lex's astonishment, Genevieve stopped running and glanced down at Nigel, her eyes filled with new awareness and uncertainty.

With a groan, Nigel flipped around and glared at Lex. His face was badly scraped and his wrist was bent at a grotesque angle, but he quickly shot to his feet. "Keep running, Gen!" he shouted.

The witch girl hesitated, but finally obeyed the order.

While Lex was distracted, Nigel seized the chance to lash out at her with a stake. Just as the weapon was about to plunge into her chest, she twisted away, pivoting on her toes, and the stake cut open a long gash across her stomach.

Lex knew that she couldn't do this. The witch was an experienced fighter and she was pathetically ignorant. As he attacked, she used her preternatural speed to slip and dodge the stake, but she was quickly tiring. Before long the witch caught her on the inside of her arm, on the side of her neck, across the small of her back. She was loosing too much blood; her head was swimming and her limbs were heavy. As her world turned cold and gray, the witch saw his chance. He plunged the stake into her gut and left it there as Lex fell heavily to the ground.

* * *

So much fighting.

So much death.

Such a waste.

Genevieve was running, but she didn't know why any more. Her head hurt. Her heart hurt. All she wanted was to fall into Aiden's arms and beg him to finish what he had started. He had to know that she wouldn't scream or fight. Maybe together they could push through those last few seconds before death and then they could both find some peace.

She could feel him everywhere, an explosion of color and noise. Contradictory emotions fired back and forth in his mind, spiraling and escalating until he wanted to scream. Five days ago Gen would never have thought that Aiden's systematic, analytical mind could crumble like this; there was just so much more to him than she'd ever known existed.

But then she wasn't sure that he had known either.

Suddenly nauseas, Genevieve stopped running. Wrapping an arm over her stomach, she hobbled down an alley off of the street and leaned against the wall.

The wind was cool against her face. As her heartbeat slowed, she realized that this was the first time she'd been alone outside of the compound since she'd come to D.C. The thought made her feel strangely free.

She wasn't a Wild Power now. She was only a girl. Just a small, insignificant girl living in a vast, callous universe that couldn't care less if she lived or died.

But even as she stood there, she felt her Power beginning to rejuvenate. The blue fire surged through her veins, claiming her body, damning her to a long, lonely life of worship and persecution. A life without love. A life without Aiden.

Her eyes flooded with tears. She couldn't take this any more.

She heard something like a gasp behind her. Her gaze was drawn up to the roof of the building next to her and she found her soulmate kneeling there, staring down at her with his eerie gray eyes.

Aiden looked haggard. His hair was disheveled, as if he had been running his fingers through it, his cheekbones were sharp, and he was crouched down on one knee while the other was drawn into his chest. Gen wondered if he knew how submissive his posed seemed; even though he was sitting several stories above her, it felt almost as if he was bowing down before her.

There was a subtle shimmer of magick around him—a blockade of Power that was intended to keep people out of his mind. But the spell couldn't work against Gen; the soulmate link passed through it like a ray of light through glass.

They were alone.

The breeze suddenly felt cold and Genevieve shivered.

"It's all right," Aiden breathed.

She looked toward the street for a moment, and then she turned back to her soulmate. "Is it?" she asked him.

He didn't answer, didn't move, but something in his gray eyes shattered.

Gen stood transfixed at the sight of the emotion in her soulmate's face. She ached so badly for him and for herself. The hurt vibrated through the soulmate link and she saw Aiden tremble from it.

Slowly, Genevieve lifted her hand to her face. As she ran her palm over her skin, she released the Power that she had only just regained, using it to combat the spell Nigel had cast. The magick fell away from her, revealing her slender body, her pale complexion, her violet eyes. She was as naked and defenseless against him now as she always had been.

Aiden's expression changed. His lips parted. His breath quickened.

He was frightened.

He understood now that there was nothing hysterical or overdramatic about the desire inside of her. Rather, it was simple and pure, and the only thing that Gen knew for sure any more.

She wanted to die.


	9. Blue Fire

As much as Reece disliked Carden, he had to admit that they fought well together. At first Angie had made fools of them both. She'd caught Carden's kick midair and then threw him onto his back. When Reece moved in, she'd slipped his punches and followed with her own devastating blows. She was fast, spry, and she knew how to use an opponent's momentum against him. But the Daybreakers soon found a rhythm; they learned how to move with each other to trap the Night World governor between them. Carden's fighting style was so flashy that it distracted Angie long enough for Reece to stealthily rush her from behind. When she turned to fight him off, she didn't spare Carden any attention because she assumed that she would anticipate his flamboyant attacks, but the lamia could strike just as silently as Reece. By the time Angie sensed his movement and whipped around to defend herself, Carden was close enough to drive his knee into her gut. While she was doubled over in pain, Carden brought his knee up again, catching her in the face, and the Night World governor fell to the ground.

Angie was back on her feet before either of the Daybreakers could grab her, but she was dazed. She tried to move back to avoid Reece's high roundhouse kick, but she couldn't react in time. While she was still reeling from that blow, Reece stopped his leg in the air and jerked it back, slamming his heel into the side of Angie's head.

As the Night World governor wobbled on her feet, disoriented, Carden came up behind her and pulled her arms back, bending her neck into a Full Nelson. "Come on, Cahill," he urged. "Finish her off."

Reece hesitated. Angie was nearly limp in Carden's grasp, and with her arms pulled so far back, her chest was left wide open. She seemed small and a little weary, and at that moment, killing her just didn't feel right.

Sensing his reluctance, her expression changed. As she smiled, that vulnerability trickled out of her like the blood dripping from the corner of her mouth, and the girl that remained was little more than a caricature. "He can't kill me," she gasped. "The Daybreak witch has too much honor."

Carden roughly tightened his hold on her, trying to inflict enough pain to make her shut up. "Do it, Cahill," he snapped. "Stake her!"

But Reece couldn't move. As his heartbeat slowed and the adrenaline that he'd been running on began to dissipate, he suddenly felt incredibly drained. He uncurled his shoulders and lowered his fists, shifting out of his fighting stance.

Angie's laugh was wet and raspy. "Told you," she said in a sing-song voice.

Carden looked at his teammate, his lip curled in a sharp sneer. "This is fucking unbelievable." In his disgust, the lamia's grip slackened and the Night World governor began to struggle against him. Before she could slip out of the hold, Reece darted in and threw an explosive uppercut that connected with Angie's jaw. Knocked unconscious, her head fell forward and Carden dropped her body on the ground.

"Let's go find Nigel and Gen," Reece said softly.

"Screw that," the vampire retorted. He pushed past him and grabbed one of the discarded wooden knives off the sidewalk. "I'm killing her."

Reece stepped forward, blocking his way. "No," he said. His voice was quiet, but it still carried enough force to make the vampire pause and glare at him.

"If we let her go now, she'll continue to be a threat," Carden told him. "She needs to be put down."

Shaking his head, Reece insisted, "Not like this."

His teammate laughed sarcastically. "So what do you want to do? Sit around and wait for her to wake up so we can fight her again, hoping to find a justifiable moment to kill her?"

"No," Reece replied with exaggerated patience. "We leave her here and we go to find Genevieve now. She's our responsibility, not Angie. Gen is out on the street with only Nigel to protect her and we don't know if Angie has any more of her people around."

"Damn it!" the vampire growled, starting to pace like a caged animal. "She's right here! She's unconscious and she deserves to die. Just let me stake her!"

Watching Carden pace, Reece was surprised. With his preternatural strength and sheer size, the lamia could easily shove him out of the way and kill Angie if he wanted, but it didn't seem like he was going to make a move without Reece's permission. Maybe in spite of his irritating attitude Carden understood what it meant to be part of a team after all.

Hoping that he was right, but still bracing himself for a blow, Reece confronted the vampire toe-to-toe. "I'm going to have to ask you to stand down, Carden," he said heatedly. "I'm the team leader and I will not waste time debating orders with you when the life of a Wild Power is on the line. If you want to come after Angie on your own time, fine, but right now I need you to help me find Gen. Are you coming or not?"

Carden stared down at him antagonistically for another moment, but finally he yielded, taking a step back and pocketing the knife. Then, surprising Reece once again, he smirked. "Did you seriously just ask me to 'stand down'? I think you've been watching too many made-for-TV movies, Cahill."

"Be careful," he replied, returning the smile. "The next time you don't listen to my orders I might go all George Lucas on your ass."

The lamia held his hands up in surrender. "That should be considered cruel and unusual punishment."

Leaving Angie behind, the Daybreakers headed down the street.

"Okay," Reece sighed as he reached for his cell phone. "I'll try to reach Nigel. He and Gen couldn't have gone too far."

Before he could dial, though, Carden elbowed him in the ribs. "Hey, hold up." He pointed to a figure emerging from a tiny side street several yards away. "Nigel is right there."

Watching the short, dark-haired witch sprint toward them, Reece's stomach turned cold. Nigel was out of breath, his face was badly scraped, and he was holding one of his wrists as if it was broken. Worst of all, he was completely alone. "Where's Gen?"

"I can't find her!" Nigel exclaimed when he reached them. "I was attacked by some vampire girl back there and I told Gen to keep running. By the time I staked the girl, Gen was gone. I searched the entire block, but I can't find her anywhere. I was hoping she had found her way back to you."

"How could you let Genevieve run off by herself?" Carden snarled.

The witch shrugged as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his good hand. "I didn't want her waiting around to get killed if the vampire killed me."

Reece nodded begrudgingly. He wished that Nigel had ignored the vampire and kept running with Gen, but what was done was done. "Is the girl dead now, or did she get away?"

"What difference does it make?" Carden interjected. "If Angie had that one soldier in place, then she probably has at least a dozen others around."

"I'm not sure if that girl _was_ one of Angie's soldiers," Nigel said. "She was certainly fast, but she couldn't fight worth a damn."

"Then what happened to your wrist? And to your face?" Reece asked.

Carden snorted. "Hasn't he always been that ugly?"

"She, uh, tripped me," Nigel replied awkwardly, as if he was embarrassed. "And that's part of what bothers me. Gen and I were running down the side street and I guess the girl was hiding behind a dumpster. As we came by, she just—stuck her foot out. I was only on the ground for a few seconds, but in that time the girl had a clear shot at Gen and she didn't take it. Actually, she seemed...terrified."

Running his fingers through his hair, Reece tried to clear his mind. Nigel's vampire girl did sound peculiar, but they had more important things to worry about right now. "All right, let's focus," he said to his teammates. "The priority now is finding Gen. Carden, can you reach her telepathically?"

The lamia's eyes glazed over slightly as he tried to contact the Wild Power. After a long moment, he shook his head. "No. I can sense that she's alive, but she's shielding herself."

Nigel frowned. "Why would she do that when she knows we're looking for her?"

"The Night World must be close by," Carden concluded. He smiled wolfishly, pulling his lips back from his teeth to reveal his fangs. Bouncing on his toes, he looked eager for another fight.

"No," Reece said slowly. "She's had intensive training on shielding. She knows how to specifically let some people in and lock others out. There has to be another reason—" He broke off, suddenly struck by a vivid image: Gen kneeling down on the floor of the evacuation tunnel, the heels of her hands pressed against her temples as she smiled wistfully, whispering, _He's coming for me._ "Oh no," he gasped. "She's with Aiden."

His teammates exchanged doubtful glances, but Reece didn't give them the chance to question him. "We need to split up and search for her. We'll start with a five block radius. Carden, you take the North side. Nigel, the West. I'll take South and East. If anyone finds her, call the others. And Carden, keep your mind open for her; if her shields fail, give us a telepathic shout.

"Stay on guard at all times," he continued. "Aiden St. Helen is one of the most vicious fighters Daybreak has ever seen, so don't take any chances: shoot to kill. Do you understand?" His teammates nodded. "Good. Then _move!_"

* * *

Lex stumbled forward, barely able to breathe through the pain. Blood streamed down her arms, so dark that it seemed black against her white skin. It coated her hands, burning like liquid fire as it surged from the wound in her stomach and gushed between her icy fingers. She was so cold. A violent shiver rippled outward from her gut and through her limbs, making her teeth chatter. She didn't know where she was, where she was going, or how she was still walking when her legs were so wobbly and numb. She only knew that if she stopped, she would die. And so she grasped at the bricks of the building next to her, rubbing her fingertips raw as she pulled herself forward.

She had to keep moving.

The streets were eerily empty for mid-afternoon and the neighborhood itself seemed menacing. Tall buildings surrounded her, trapping her in the harsh sunlight. As the rays bore down on her and the heat dried her bones, she felt as if she were lost in a vast desert. If she could only find some shade, some slice of darkness to sink into, she might begin to heal, but there was no escape, no relief, nowhere to hide.

With her eyes focused on the ground in front of her, Lex didn't realize she had reached the corner of the building until she tried to grab the next brick and her hands grasped at nothing. Without any support, her knees gave out under her weight and she fell onto the sidewalk. For a moment she lay there, too exhausted to move. She let her heavy eyelids shut, finally finding a taste of the darkness she craved. It was only as a blissful numbness began to claim her that she remembered the danger in resting.

She recognized this sensation; she had experienced it twice before. The last time, only three years ago, she had eagerly embraced it, but now she was afraid. With the last of her strength she fought, forcing herself to breathe. A trace of air inflated her shriveled lungs and she wished that she could hold it, cradle it tenderly inside of her chest. It was such a precious and delicate thing—her last breath. But it was no use; the battle was already lost. The air slipped away, slowly passing over her lips as the shadows in her mind overran the landscape of her thoughts. She was sinking. Drowning. Dying, dying once again.

Just as she surrendered to the cold black sea, however, she felt something pulling her back to the surface. Still lying on the sidewalk, Lex could feel her skin prickling, as if someone were watching her. And almost against her will, she felt her body draw another breath.

Blood. The air was saturated with the scent, so rich and thick that she could taste it on her tongue, feel the weight of it sliding down her throat. Filling her, healing her. Making her whole.

Her eyes snapped open.

Through the blinding sunlight, Alexandra found herself staring down a narrow alley that rested between two buildings. And at the back of the alley, there was a girl.

The girl was so beautiful and still that she seemed at first to be a mirage—an angel amongst the dumpsters and graffiti. She was dressed all in black, but the clothing only accentuated the graceful lines of her slender figure, the depth of her violet eyes, the way her golden hair shone like a halo about her face. The scent of blood was a heady perfume that wafted from her—a flare of delicious heat on the cool, clean breeze.

Gazing at the girl, mesmerized, Alexandra had the sense that she had seen her before but she couldn't recall when or where. A strange haze had settled over her, clouding her mind. There was no more thought, nothing beyond this moment and this beautiful, ethereal girl. The world fell silent.

In a sudden burst of desperate longing, Lex shattered the sublime stillness and rolled onto her hands and knees. Like a beggar, a slave, she crawled toward the girl. The movement stretched her stomach, tearing her wound wider, but the thought of reaching the girl occluded the pain. There were only a few yards between them, but when she finally collapsed at the girl's feet, Lex felt as if she had completed a pilgrimage.

The girl looked down at her, grimacing slightly as her violet eyes fixed on Alexandra's stomach. "Goddess," she breathed.

Lex followed her gaze and winced as well, mortified by the sight of the blood soaking her clothes—blood that she had stolen from so many, many people. It was still pouring out of her gut, an endless fount of shame.

But there was no reproach in the girl's eyes as she kneeled down next to her. And when she reached out to touch Lex's face, her hands didn't feel reluctant. Rather they were steady and comforting. "You're dying," she said softly.

Alexandra couldn't formulate a response. Her senses were too overwhelmed by the smell of the blood staining a white bandage that was wrapped around the girl's forearm, draped so closely to Lex's mouth that it nearly kissed her lips. The scent set her body afire and her canines lengthened in anticipation. Appalled, she tried to push them back with her tongue.

The girl drew back, and even though Lex knew that she deserved the rejection, she could feel tears pricking the corners of her eyes. But then she realized that the girl hadn't actually pulled away from her, she had merely tipped her head to the side, exposing the creamy skin of her neck.

Alexandra froze.

Her heart pounding, she looked questioningly into the girl's face and the girl nodded. In an instant, her awe and shame were pushed aside by sheer reckless _need_, and Lex threw herself at the girl, sinking her teeth deeply into her throat.

The blood rushed into her mouth and the taste of it was unlike any blood she'd ever had before. It tasted purer somehow, as if it had been stripped of all the unnecessary adornments of sweetness or bitterness. It was basic, elemental, and powerful, and it meant _something_, but Lex couldn't follow the thought to the end.

The girl's pulse quickly grew faint, leaving her poised on the knife-edge between life and death. Instinctively, Lex wanted to shove the girl over that edge, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Killing this beautiful, selfless, innocent girl who had saved her life would just be _wrong_. The world needed her—_Lex_ needed her—so she summoned every shred of will power she possessed and began to pull away.

A hand abruptly clamped on the back of her head, holding her there. "Do it," the girl hissed. "Please just do it."

Horrified, Alexandra struggled, but the girl's grip was like a vise. With her lips mashed against the girl's throat, the blood continued to spurt into her mouth in a relentless deluge. Lex choked and gagged, but eventually she had no choice but to swallow it down over and over again.

The onslaught seemed endless, but at last the girl's hand fell away. As the girl crumpled to the ground, the haze hovering in Lex's mind suddenly cleared. Blinking forcefully a few times, she glanced around, feeling as if she had been released from some kind of drug-induced stupor, or woken from a vague, bewildering dream. The colors around her were brighter, the details sharper. The properties of cause and effect, logic and reason had been restored, and she could finally _think_ again.

What the hell had happened?

Lex looked down at the girl and now that her head was clear, she realized who this girl was. She could almost hear Aiden St. Helen's dispassionate voice murmuring,_ Slight build, average height_…_Blond hair, fair skin, violet eyes. _

Genevieve Harman.

And that realization led to another one which was far more devastating: this girl—this _witch_—had set her up. She had cast spells to hypnotize Lex and draw her close, knowing that a dying vampire wouldn't be able to resist her blood. Once she had Lex in her clutches, the girl had cast another spell to trap her there, forcing her to drink until there was nothing left. Turning her into a murderer.

Lex grabbed Genevieve's shoulders and shook her angrily, refusing to let her die in peace. "Why?" she growled. "Why did you do this to me, you bitch?" It was a pointless question, one that had amused her maker to no end, but she couldn't help it. Spell or no, she had trusted this girl, and the girl had betrayed her.

Genevieve pressed her lips together, her expression pained and remorseful. "Sorry," she breathed. "I couldn't…just couldn't…"

_Couldn't help it. _

_Couldn't bear it. _

_Couldn't do it myself._

The girl didn't say the words, but the grief shadowing her violet eyes spoke to Lex, tempering her anger with empathy. How could she hate Genevieve for hurting, and for wanting to put an end to that hurt? For having the courage to do what Lex herself never could?

Awkwardly, she leaned closer to Genevieve and brushed a few strands of blond hair back from the witch's face. Looking into those tortured eyes, she felt a churning inside, a desire to _know_ this girl, to learn who she was and what had driven her to the point of desperation.

Lex's power stirred and she knew that it was useless to fight it; she was too tired, too beaten, and too—curious. Bracing herself on her hands, she let the power draw her down until Genevieve's forehead touched her own. Though she shuddered imperceptibly, the witch didn't turn away; it was as if she knew how much Lex needed this. And just below her surface thoughts lay a need for this as well. The girl had been alone for so long, and before she died she wanted someone to forgive her for what she'd done. Someone to understand—

B_etrayal, hands around her throat…_

The image and the emotion it carried were both so vivid that Lex flinched, nearly severing the connection between her and the witch. Her power sputtered, but after a moment, it surged again, locking her onto Genevieve as effectively as the witch's magick had done.

_Betrayal, hands around her throat. Squeezing the life out of her with long tapered fingers that had always caressed her so lovingly. He rarely said the words, but she'd thought that she could feel them in his touch…_

_Daybreakers crowding around her, eager to touch her. The sick hoping to be healed. The faithful searching for affirmation. The skeptical waiting for a miracle. All so good to her that she had never realized not a single person among them cared about her for herself. She was a savior, a messiah. Never just a person, just a girl. Not until him…_

_His lean body pressed against hers, his long legs intertwined with hers. His skin, usually so cold, now slick with sweat and hot to the touch. His mouth on hers, fierce and demanding. His fangs scraping her lips, his nails digging into her waist. His eyes squeezed shut, as if in pain…_

_Betrayal, hands around her throat. Steel gray eyes glaring down at her mercilessly. Strange how he had never held her gaze this long. Didn't want her to know that the sun, the moon, and the stars she had always seen in his eyes were just a trick of the light. Of her own pathetic idealism…_

_Sitting next to him on her bed, she found the courage to say, "I heard about your patrol last night."_

_Poring over a stack of documents, he didn't lift his head. "What about it?"_

"_That you killed a coven of vampires." Taking a breath, she quietly added, "I heard you gutted them."_

_He nodded. "I did."_

_She cringed reflexively, disturbed by the indifference in his voice. "I wish you hadn't."_

"_Why?" He finally looked up, seeming annoyed and perplexed. "They were Night World."_

"_And we're Daybreak," she returned. "We're supposed to respect life. Protect it. And if we're forced to kill, we're supposed to leave the dead with dignity."_

_Shifting his weight to lean over her, he held her chin firmly in his hand, forcing her to look at his stern face. "Do you think they'll show _you_ that kind of mercy, Eve?"_

_Betrayal, hands around her throat. His thoughts swarming in her head, pleading and panicked. Die, die, die…just one more minute, just die, please die… _

_"I'm tired of thinking and I'm tired of being…I know how selfish it is, but I wish I would die."_

_Vampire in her arms. Teeth in her throat. Blood spilling. "Do it. Please just do it." Almost there. One more minute, just die, please die…_

_Love you, Aiden... _

As the witch's life force weakened, Alexandra felt her power retract, ripping her out of Genevieve's soul as quickly as it had thrust her into it.

When she became aware of her surroundings once again, Lex found herself still staring down into the witch's violet eyes. They were glassy now, but the light behind them would dim in a matter of seconds, leaving them dull and empty. Alexandra didn't want to watch it happen, but she couldn't let the girl die alone. Bending her head, she lightly kissed Genevieve's lips and waited for the witch's last breath to fall on her mouth. When it finally did, she inhaled sharply, drawing it into herself and clinging to it as desperately as she had her own last breath. But it was hopeless. There was nothing anchoring Genevieve to this world any more.

As Lex lingered there, trying to summon the energy to move, she heard the rumble of footsteps behind her. Before she had time to turn around, someone hauled her up by the collar of her shirt and slammed her against the wall, pinning her there.

Over her attacker's broad shoulder, she saw the two Daybreak witches who had been guarding Genevieve earlier kneeling next to the girl's body. The red-haired witch—the leader, Lex remembered—gently turned Genevieve's head to the side and found the puncture wounds on her neck. "She's dead," he said without bothering to check for a pulse.

"God-fucking-damn it," growled the brawny vampire who was holding Alexandra against the wall.

"It's my fault," the short, dark-haired witch murmured as he looked up at Lex. "That's the girl who tripped me."

"I thought you staked her," the vampire snapped.

"I did," he replied softly. "In the stomach. To put her out of commission."

"More pacifist, tree-hugging bullshit!" With a snarl, the vampire leaned more of his weight on Lex, holding her in place as he glanced over his shoulder at the leader. "Cahill?"

The red-haired witch didn't answer. Sadness and frustration emanated from him as he stood up and turned his electric green eyes on Alexandra.

Encouraged by the leader's silence, the vampire used his free hand to withdraw stake from the pocket of his black vest. Resting the sharp point of the stake against Lex's chest, he asked once again, "Cahill?"

Still, the leader said nothing. While his subordinate's expressions were twisted by anger and guilt, the red-haired witch just stared at Lex in disgust, as if she were the vilest being he'd ever seen. And she was—she _knew_ that she was—but for some reason, his revulsion hurt her.

_You don't understand,_ she thought, and she was surprised to discover that she wanted him to understand. For the first time since she had escaped from her maker, she wanted to explain herself. Defend herself. Anything to dispel that look in this Daybreaker's eyes.

She started to cry out to him, but at that moment the vampire curled his lip and moved to plunge the stake into her chest. The instant the weapon broke her skin, Alexandra's cry changed into a shrill scream of agony as her body caught fire. The blaze started in her veins, turning her blood into boiling lava, and then it exploded out of her in a brilliant blast of heat. The force of it hurled the vampire and the dark-haired witch into the air, carrying them away on a tidal wave of Power. When the fire cleared, there were only two people left standing in the alley—Lex and the red-haired witch.

Shaking violently, she dared to look at him and found that the hate and disgust that had seared his green eyes was replaced with pure shock. Alexandra smiled faintly, flooded with relief, and then she collapsed.

* * *

Dazed, Reece watched the vampire girl fall in a heap on the ground. For a long moment he just stood there, unable to move. Too much had happened in the last few minutes and his mind couldn't process it all.

Wild Power. The girl was a Wild Power.

No, it wasn't possible. The prophecies only ever spoke of four Wild Powers and Genevieve had been the last. There was an entire vault inside of the D.C. compound filled with documentation confirming that fact. Reece himself had watched hours of video footage of Gen working with blue fire—learning to direct it, focus it, and create it on command.

But that was precisely how he knew this vampire girl _had_ to be a Wild Power. He had seen blue fire before, and there was no mistaking it. It was the only force in existence that could harmlessly sweep over Reece and Genevieve's body while it pitched Carden and Nigel so high into the air that they probably hadn't even landed yet. Though, why the girl would spare Reece when staking her had obviously been his call, he didn't know. That confused him almost as much as the small, grateful smile she'd given him just before she fainted.

Reece finally forced himself to approach the girl, who was still lying on her side on the ground, her mass of dark curly hair shielding her face. Her blue silk blouse was soaked in blood and it hung in tattered pieces on her small frame. In that shirt, a pair of shiny black pants, and spiked heels, she wasn't dressed for battle, but then again, Angie hadn't been dressed appropriately either.

After he had circled her once, he slowly crouched down in front of the girl. Even though she appeared to be unconscious, Reece knew that he couldn't afford to make any more assumptions about her, so he stayed on the balls of his feet, ready to attack. But thankfully, she didn't move as he carefully pushed her hair back over her shoulder.

Her face was striking—beautiful, really. She had smooth, flawless skin, extraordinarily lush lips, and long dark eyelashes that were fanned out in perfect crescents on her high cheekbones. Reece had noticed all of those features when she'd been pinned against the wall a few minutes ago, but as she lay here now, she looked younger than he'd thought. In fact, if she were human, he wouldn't put her a day over fourteen. And the thought unsettled him.

On impulse, he reached his hand out to touch her face. As the back of his knuckles brushed her skin, a jolt of electricity shot up his outstretched arm, short-circuiting every nerve-ending as it forged a path straight to his heart. With a gasp, he jerked his hand back and clutched it to his chest.

_Aftershocks from the blue fire_, he thought. Had to be. And it was a harsh reminder that watching a few videos of Genevieve's training had in no way prepared him for dealing with a Wild Power. Standing back up, he flipped open his cell phone and did what he should have done the moment he'd found out that Gen was dead.

Thierry Descouedres answered his phone on the first ring. "What happened, Cahill?" he demanded. "You're not supposed to check in until tonight."

"Genevieve is dead," Reece told him.

The Daybreaker cursed. "Was it Angie?"

"Someone working for her, maybe." He gave Thierry a quick rundown of the botched mission, from the sniper shooting Beth, to the discovery of Gen's body in the arms of the vampire girl. "I'm sorry, sir," he concluded. "I take full responsibility for everything that happened."

"Blame hardly matters now," Thierry replied quietly. "Four less one and darkness triumphs."

"Right. And that's actually the reason I called." Reece paused to clear his throat. "We still have four."

"Excuse me?"

"We still have four," he repeated. "The vampire who killed Genevieve is a Wild Power."

The Daybreak leader's reply was resolute. "That's impossible."

"I know it sounds crazy," Reece replied. "But I saw her throw blue fire at Nigel and Carden, and it literally blew them off the face of the earth. There's no question about it: she's a Wild Power."

"That can't be right," Thierry murmured. Then after a long silence he asked, "Where is this girl now?"

Reece glanced down at the petite body lying at his feet. "Unconscious. She fainted."

"Good. Bring her back to the compound."

After the lecture he had given Carden about obeying orders, Reece should have known better than to argue with Thierry Descouedres, but the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. "But it's not safe there. If Angie has any more of her people planted in the compound, they'll have easy access to the girl."

"She killed Genevieve," his superior reminded him. "She most likely _is_ one of Angie's people."

"All the more reason not to bring her in. The last thing we need is a Wild Power hooking up with someone on the inside."

Thierry sighed. "Trust me, I share your concern, but the truth is that there's nowhere else she can go. The coven in West Virginia was willing to hide Genevieve because she was on our side, but they won't protect a Night World vampire. And until we know exactly who and what this girl is, she needs to be kept somewhere secure."

With that much, Reece agreed. "All right," he conceded weakly.

"I'll call ahead to Anton Parish and let him know that you'll be coming back," Thierry said. "I'm also going to tell him that I want you to guard the girl."

That statement startled him. "You still want me to guard her after what happened with Genevieve?"

"As you said, Angie might have more moles in the compound, so I need someone from the outside to do this. Until you hear otherwise directly from me, don't let the girl out of your sight."

"Yes, sir," Reece replied. "And when you speak to Anton, could you please ask him to send a team out to search for Nigel and Carden? I don't know how far the blue fire threw them, but if they survived it, they're going to need serious medical attention."

"Of course."

As soon as he snapped his phone shut, Reece realized that he hadn't asked Thierry about the aftershocks. He really didn't want to call him back, though; he'd caused Circle Daybreak enough problems today. Besides, if Thierry thought that it was dangerous to touch a Wild Power after a blast, then he would have warned Reece. The aftershocks couldn't have been anything serious.

Still, he was on edge as he bent down to pick the girl up. As a test, he tentatively slid one of his arms underneath her back. When nothing strange happened, he slipped his other arm under her knees and lifted her up. Even as dead weight, she was disturbingly light, and for the first time he noticed just how thin she was. Not emaciated, but not too far from it either.

The girl's head lolled back against his chest and Reece stiffened. The jolt that went through him at the sight of her cheek resting against his shirt and the feel of her hair spilling over his arm had nothing to do with blue fire.

Annoyed with himself, he looked back at Genevieve, who was lying cold and dead on the ground. The vampire girl had done that. And it was because of her that Reece had to leave Gen's body here like a piece of trash. He'd been ordered to protect the girl, and so he would, but he could not forget all of the harm she had caused today.

Imitating the sneer that Carden so often wore, Reece stormed out of that alley.

Just before he reached the street, something suddenly stopped him. He looked up at the roof of the building next to him and saw Aiden. St. Helen kneeling there, staring at his soulmate's body. For a moment Reece pitied him, but then the ex-Daybreaker turned slightly and his gaze locked onto the vampire girl. His expression revealed nothing about how long he'd been lurking there or how much he might have seen.

Without taking his eyes off Aiden, Reece tightened his grip on the girl and quickly backed away. When he hit the sidewalk, he whipped around and broke into a run. He may have lost one Wild Power today, but he'd be damned if he was going to lose another.


	10. Soul Stealer

He couldn't say when the tremor had started—maybe the moment he'd laid eyes on her or maybe before that. It might not have begun until he watched the vampire take her. It had been so vague at first, just a slight quiver in his breath. But now his entire body was visibly shaking as he looked down into the alley. His knees had given out and he sat in a painful crouch on the roof. The afternoon sun stung him, but he hardly noticed. There was only him and his witch now.

"Eve," Aiden whispered the name that he alone called his witch. He'd always thought it had suited her more than "Gen". To him, it had spoken of her purity and innocence, but Aiden wondered now if he'd chosen the name because he'd known she would be the cause of his eternal damnation. Gazing down on her, he said the name again, testing its taste on his tongue.

Aiden had felt so much in the days since he had tried to kill her. His hate and guilt had nearly crippled him. His revulsion and love had driven him mad. In one instant he wanted to devour her and the next he could think only of eradicating her from his mind, from this world. Strange now that she was dead, he felt nothing at all.

She had forgiven him—Aiden saw that in her eyes when she looked up at him from the alley. Of course, he'd already known that. She never blamed him for what he had done, but that did nothing to assuage the pain for either of them.

Gazing down at his witch, Aiden had found her thoughts falling from his lips, _"It's alright."_

And Eve had spoken his thoughts in turn,_ "Is it?"_

They had both been so tired. The constant battle between love and hate in his mind had left Aiden beyond fractured. His witch, her emotions always so pure and untainted by doubt, was simply weary of being alive. She no longer cared about the fate of the world, no longer cared about her life. Eve had become pain itself and just wanted the pain to end.

And so Aiden had watched as she ended it. He'd been frozen in anticipation and horror as it happened. A crushing ache had begun in his chest as the soulmate link was stretched further and further into infinity with every drop of blood the vampire girl, Lex, took from his witch. The pressure had grown nearly unbearable and Aiden had struggled to breathe.

Then it was gone, leaving a damp void in its wake.

Now they were both still, except for Aiden's trembling, as the sun began to set. It stripped the last of the warmth from Eve, and her lovely face that he knew so well seemed like a mask made of wax.

Aiden rolled and threw himself over the edge of the building, breaking his ankle from the five story fall as he landed in the alley. He kneeled down next to his witch and touched her face, but there was nothing. Her cheek was cold now and Aiden felt no electricity, no overwhelming sense of _her_. The soulmate link was severed.

He'd never really looked at her like this before. During the past year at the compound, it had taken so much for him to shut her out of his mind that it had been too dangerous to simply take her in, as he was doing now. All those nights, lying next to her, Aiden had forced himself to fall asleep immediately to avoid the temptation of watching her sleep. He hadn't wanted to see her, vulnerable and trusting. He had squeezed his eyes shut every time they kissed, every time they came together.

His shoulders shook more violently now and Aiden realized that he was sobbing and yet there were no tears in his eyes. It was just halting breath and stabbing pain. As if he'd been slashed open and his guts were spilling out onto the ground.

Leaning over Eve, Aiden caught site of the pale, yellowish bruises around her throat—his thumbprints staining her flawless skin. And beside the marks were two puncture wounds, where the vampire had bitten her. Seeing the two injuries next to each other, he suddenly knew that although the vampire girl may have taken his witch's life, Aiden had actually killed her five days ago. He'd betrayed her love and faith, destroyed everything she'd believed in. And though Eve had forgiven him, she'd left this world wanting him to witness the anguish he caused her.

"No!" Aiden cried as he wrenched himself away from Eve, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. He tried to get the sight of the bruises out of his mind, but it was useless.

Turning back to his witch, Aiden felt rage like a fire smoldering inside of him. Crying angrily, he lashed out at her dead body. He slammed his foot into her again and again, screaming, but unaware of what he was saying. "Damn you, Eve! Damn you to hell. I hate you! What did you expect me to do? Holier than thou, always right, always good, always sure!"

Collapsing next to her, Aiden beat her with his fists. "Do you think it was easy for me? You'll never know! No, no, no." And then, exhausted, he simply gasped the fabric of her shirt and laid his head on her stomach. "Damn you," he hissed again.

He felt his sweat soaking into Eve's clothing and remembered Angie's words on the subway: _"How far the great and untouchable Hellraiser has fallen."_ It struck him as amusing just then and Aiden began to laugh. It burst out of him, loud and ferocious, as if it had a will of its own. The sound echoed off the buildings so that Aiden could hear his own cackle surrounding him, and it made the laughter worse. It all seemed so hilarious, how pathetic he had become and how foolish Eve had been to give up her life and her Power because of him. He couldn't stop laughing and that realization only fed his hysteria. His stomach cramped as he gasped for breath, but the fit was incessant.

His witch was finally dead, but Aiden still wasn't free of her. She had infected him, she was everywhere and nowhere. It was such a perfect revenge. And how fitting that the vampire who had broken down the wall he'd built to shut Eve out of his mind was the very same person Eve had chosen to kill her. That delicate girl with the glossy black hair and piercing eyes, the one Angie had called _Soul Stealer_.

The laughter stopped at once.

_Soul Stealer…_

_Soulmate…_

The one that Eve had chosen to kill her…

That deceitful bitch.

Aiden sat up abruptly, still breathing hard. He shivered inwardly, breaking into a cold sweat. Without thinking, he got to his feet and bolted out of the alley, leaving the body of his witch behind. It didn't matter any longer. It was just a shell.

Conniving, vindictive witch. How did she ever think that she could fool him? Just slip into another body while he stood grieving for the one she'd cast aside? She was his _soulmate_ and he could still feel her, in him and around him. He was choking on her. Well, Eve may have shown him the pain he'd caused her, but Aiden would be damned if he was going to let her go without showing her _exactly_ what she had done to him.

The vampire girl was still limp in his arms as Reece entered the Daybreak compound through the main entrance. Tears and hostility contorted all of the faces he saw as he made his way to the security station. He found himself holding the vampire tighter against his body, as if to shield her from the Daybreakers' accusing stares. It was a strange thing to do because certainly the girl deserved the blame for Genevieve's death, but she was unconscious and unable to defend herself. It just didn't seem fair.

Anton Parish was waiting for Reece at the security desk, a good head taller than any other Daybreaker in the compound. He was a lamia, one of the few that Reece knew who had let himself age past his forties. Nevertheless, Anton was still striking. He was always impeccably dressed in expensive black suits and with his silver hair and spectacles, Anton appeared to be wealthy businessman.

"Cahill," the lamia greeted Reece. "This is her?"

"Yes, sir," Reece replied. He glanced around the lobby, feeling all of the eyes on him. "They know about her?"

Anton sighed. "They needed the truth. When the mission went to hell this compound was in chaos with confusion. I had to explain everything. And they deserved to know that Genevieve had died. Many of these Daybreakers were her friends. But it would have been catastrophic for Circle Daybreak to admit to having lost a Wild Power."

"So you gave them another," Reece finished for him. He looked down at the vampire in his arms. "I don't know if that was the right call, sir. I don't think anyone should know about her until we figure out what the hell is going on."

"I see. So after screwing up a critical mission and being responsible for the death of a Wild Power, you now presume to know how to do my job. Is that it?"

Reece winced, but the vampire was right. He'd botched everything. "No, sir," he replied humbly. "I do take full responsibility for what happened today. It cost three good people their lives, one of whom was a Wild Power and another was my friend. I'm going to have to live with that. I didn't mean to undermine you, sir. I'm just concerned about this girl, that she gets the protection she needs."

Anton seemed placated and he nodded. "I apologize. I know that you and Beth were close and that you came to care about Genevieve a great deal as well. It's easier to be angry than afraid. Let's just get this girl into a cell before she wakes up."

The witch was taken aback. "A—cell? You're locking her up?"

"Of course," Anton replied, as if the answer was obvious. "Whatever she is, she's got a lot of Power. Thierry said that it blew your team away, literally. She's not part of Circle Daybreak and she may be working for Angie Catellini. We can't take any chances with her."

"Does Thierry know about this?"

"He approved of the plan, yes," the lamia answered curtly, as if to warn Reece that he was about to cross another line.

Reece didn't understand his reluctance, everything Anton had said was right. And the girl killed Genevieve, she was clearly a threat. Reece tried to push aside his uneasiness. "Then let's do it," he said to Anton hoping he sounded more confident than he felt.

Anton led Reece through security and into the compound. "Is she getting heavy?" the vampire asked as he pressed the button for the elevator. "I could have someone else carry her or we could get a stretcher."

"No, sir. It's fine." In truth Reece's arms were trembling. Although the vampire girl was disturbingly light, he'd still carried her a long way, and he was tired. But something in him that he couldn't explain protested at the idea of handing the girl over to someone else.

The elevator doors opened and Reece followed the lamia inside. Anton pressed the button for the 25th underground floor, the lowest level of the compound. Reece looked at him sharply. This girl wasn't just going to be kept in a cell; they were going to keep her in the maximum security lockup. The witch ground his teeth as the elevator descended, determined to stay silent. The older vampire knew what he was doing. Anton had run this compound for a decade and Aiden St. Helen had been the only breech in security in all that time.

Reece started at the ring of Anton's cell phone and the vampire gave him an amused glance before he answered the call. Reece knew he had to calm down, his nerves were shot. He hated being back in this place. The last time he'd been on this elevator, Beth had been with him. She'd made him laugh, but now he couldn't remember what she'd said. Sadness swept over him and Reece felt vaguely claustrophobic. He needed some air.

"Alright, I'll let him know," Anton said before closing his cell phone. He turned to Reece. "They found the other members of your team, Nigel and Carden."

The witch closed his eyes and sighed. He hadn't even been aware that he was so concerned about them. "Are they okay?"

"They're fine. A little banged up from being thrown into an office building three blocks away and then falling a few stories to the ground. Nigel broke both of his legs, but we can heal him. Carden faired a little better and he's apparently irritating everyone on the team sent to retrieve them."

"Sounds about right," Reece replied.

"They're being transported here right now," the vampire continued.

"Good."

The elevator reached the 25th floor and Reece felt the girl in his arms stir. He quickly glanced at Anton, but the vampire hadn't noticed. _Stay asleep_, Reece willed the girl. He didn't want to think of what Anton might do to her if he found her awake right now.

They walked down the cool, sterile hallway. The walls and doors were almost blindingly white and Anton exchanged his spectacles for a pair of dark sunglasses.

"There aren't any other hostiles being kept here right now, so your girl can have the largest cell," Anton explained.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it," Reece replied sardonically.

Anton glared at the witch as he unlocked a thick, heavy door. "Here we are," he said, leading the way into the cell.

The room was as stark as the hallway. It consisted of a bed, a chair, a toilet and a sink. The faucet was leaking and briefly Reece wondered if they were planning on torturing the girl with the constant dripping sound.

Reece laid the girl down on the bed and stepped back slowly, feeling chilled. He hadn't realized how warm she'd been in his arms. It alarmed him that he missed her warmth and weight.

"Are you alright, Cahill?" Anton asked from behind the witch. "You haven't been yourself since you got back here."

"I'm fine," he replied. And then surprising himself, Reece turned to the vampire and said, "There's just…something about her that bothers me."

Anton nodded. "She bothers me too. Another Wild Power was not in the prophecies."

"No, it wasn't," Reece agreed, though he hadn't been talking about the girl's Power. But then, he didn't really know what he'd meant. "Could she have taken the blue fire from Genevieve when she killed her?"

"Maybe," the vampire replied noncommittally. "The prophecies say that the Power is in the blood. There's just so much that we don't know. Did she say anything to you before she collapsed?"

"No. My team split up to search for Gen because her mind was blocked. And then, I don't know, she must have opened it. Maybe she didn't have the strength to keep up the blocks when she was being attacked. Anyways, we all felt her and got to her at about the same time. We saw this vampire girl bent over Genevieve and then, when she saw us, the girl looked terrified. She scrambled away and backed herself against a wall. She was staring at me, even as Nigel and Carden were about to stake her, and then…blue fire."

The Daybreakers were quiet for a moment as they looked at the vampire girl in wary awe. "She's young," Reece murmured. "Is it normal to make a vampire when they're so young?"

"It's possible to change anyone under the age of nineteen, but still I'd say that it's unusual to do it until they are fifteen or sixteen. A vampire needs to be able to survive in the human society on their own and it's harder to do that when you look like a child. But this girl could be lamia."

Reece doubted it for some reason, but he didn't say so. "What happens now?"

Anton sighed tiredly. "We need to question her, but also we need to keep her sedated so that she can't use the blue fire on us. We'll have containment spells cast around this cell to keep the energy inside, which could absorb some of the Power if she unleashes it, but blue fire is too strong to suppress completely. Thierry told me that he wanted you to guard her. Are you sure you're up for it?"

"Yes," the witch replied. "I am."  
"Good. Don't let your guard down, Cahill." The vampire led Reece out of the cell and shut the massive door. The locks engaged automatically with a loud bang. "I'll have our best witches down here to cast all the spells. You're way too exhausted to do it."

Reece didn't argue. "Could you send the rest of my team down when they're ready?"

Anton smiled wryly. "You're that eager for Carden's company?"

"What can I say?" the witch replied. "I'm a masochist."

The vampire laughed as he turned to walk back to the elevators, leaving Reece alone in the hallway. On the heavy door to the cell there was a small window at the witch's eye level. Looking in, he could see the girl still unconscious on the bed. Something in his stomach tightened. Reece had the unsettling feeling that, as long as the girl stayed asleep, he would be okay and his world would stay the same. But as soon as she woke up, he would be turning a corner and there would be no going back.


	11. Miles to go

Angie spat another mouthful of blood onto the sidewalk as she waited for her body to heal. The smell of coffee from the Starbucks was making her nauseas and she was fighting off a brutal headache. She was going to call one of her drivers to pick her up, but not while she was still bruised and bleeding. It was too damn humiliating and, believing Angie to be weaker than her reputation, this defeat could encourage her rivals to make a move. She wasn't overly concerned about losing her position, but she would not let that happen before the Wild Power was dead.

She was livid. She'd been beaten and had lost that damn Harmen witch. When she'd woken up, she found herself lying on the sidewalk with blood oozing from her nose and mouth. No Daybreakers in site. She didn't even know how long she'd been unconscious. Now she was shaking with rage, as if her blood were at a rolling boil inside her. She had lost the Wild Power. Again. The voices were roaring in her head and she'd failed at the chance to make them stop. And most humiliating off all was the knowledge that she was only alive because of the foolish mercy of a Daybreak witch.

It had been a very long time since Angie had lost a fight. She'd once taken on five vampires simultaneously and had walked away without a scratch. But then, that had been before she'd taken over Washington, DC. As the Night World leader of this area, Angie had spent most of her time in her penthouse, reading through information and directing her people, not to mention planning the assassination of a Wild Power. She hadn't spent enough time training and today she had overestimated her skill. If Aiden had been with her, the fight wouldn't have ended the way it did. She and Hellraiser would have left the Daybreakers to drown in pools of their own blood. But Aiden was lost to her now.

_Damn him!_

And yet…he was nearby. After working with him for years, Angie knew the vibration of Aiden's mind in the noise that filled her head. Right now he was close and extremely agitated. Curious, Angie tried to find the voice of Aiden's witch in the maelstrom of minds that relentlessly plagued her. It was difficult to locate a specific person in the din unless Angie had already met them, so that she could connect a certain mental voice to the person. But Angie could feel witch's mind through Aiden, so it would be a little easier.

_Don't bother,_ Hellraiser's telepathic voice ordered. It was cold and solid. _Get out of my head. She's dead._

Elation and pure relief bubbled up inside of her, but Angie tried to suppress it for now. She was afraid to hope that it was true. She kept her mind calm. _Ah_, she replied,_ that's why you're so overwrought. I can feel it. Did you finally get past that vexing soulmate principle and grow a pair?_

_Your vagabond girl did it,_ Aiden said tersely. _I watched it happen._

_Is that so?_ Angie was surprised. She'd ordered Alexandra Harper to go after the male witch and the Wild Power, but Angie had only hoped that Lex would distract them or slow them down. But the luscious Soul Stealer had actually killed a Wild Power. _How did she do it?_

_Does it matter?_ Aiden snapped._ It's done._

Angie paused. She'd never heard him sound so edgy. Maybe losing a soulmate did that to a person. Angie sure as hell didn't know. _How does it feel to be free?_ she asked him lightly._ Are you ready to come back to me?_

His response was overly forceful and Angie was assaulted by a fleeting image of a baseball bat coming down on her head. _About the same. And no._

_I would have thought you'd be more relaxed, Hellraiser._

She heard the vampire's telepathic hiss. _I told you not to call me that_, he reminded her heatedly.

Angie's stomach tightened. There was something going on with him. _You're still a raw nerve, Aiden. Where are you going now? What aren't you telling me?_

Angie suddenly felt a cold wall close around Aiden's mind. Oh, the vampire was definitely hiding something. All of his answers were brusque and deflective, and now he had pulled away from her. He'd learned to block her out of his mind, somehow. Very irritating.

Switching tactics, Angie searched through the din for Lex's voice. Soul Stealer's mind was a deliciously open book. But Angie couldn't find her. Strange, she had been able to hone in on Alexandra so easily a while ago and now Angie couldn't feel the vampire girl at all. It meant that Lex was dead or unconscious. Either way, she was useless at the moment.

Carefully she touched a cut at the corner of her mouth and found that it had healed. A quick examination of her limbs showed that the worst of the bruises had faded to a pale yellow hue. It was past time to get out of here.

Angie summoned a ride and one of her drivers pulled up to the curb in a silver Lexus a few minutes later. Slipping into the back seat, Angie noticed that the driver glanced at her in his rear view mirror more than once. But at least he knew better than to comment on his boss's appearance.

On the ride back to her penthouse, Angie rested her head against the window of the car and closed her eyes. She was tired and aching, but the voices buzzing in her head kept her awake. Angie couldn't remember the last time she had truly slept. There were too many minds, too many people swarming around her.

_Soon,_ she promised herself. _Soon there will be quiet_.

She needed to know that Aiden had been telling the truth, that the Wild Power was really dead. Once she was back at her penthouse, she would make a few calls and find out what had happened. And she would assign someone to follow Aiden and learn what the vampire was hiding.

She was so tired. The car window was cool against her pounding forehead.

A line of poetry came to her as she tried to block out the din…

"_And miles to go before I sleep,_

_And miles to go before I sleep."_

* * *

Her screams began not long after the Daybreakers had cast their spells. Reece could barely see the vampire girl through the blinding white light that the witches had conjured for the sedation spell. But he could hear her muffled screams through the massive door to the cell and he truly understood the term "blood-curdling".

In quick glances Reece saw that the girl's eyes were closed and she clutched at the sheets on the tiny bed as her head thrashed back and forth. She sounded as if she was in pain, but Reece didn't think the girl was even awake. Still her screams unsettled him.

Trying to get another glimpse of the girl without burning his retinas, Reece didn't see the vampire come up behind him and draw a knife. But the witch felt the air around him shift as the knife was thrust towards the back of his head. Reaching over his shoulder, Reece grabbed the arm that was holding the weapon, twisted it, and got the attacker in an arm bar. With the vampire's wrist bend upwards, the knife fell to the floor.

The vampire laughed. "You're awfully jumpy, Cahill."

"Christ, Carden," Reece gasped. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Just testing you. You've got pretty good reflexes. But now that you know I'm not going to stab you, want to let me go?"

"Oh, sorry," the witch mumbled and released his hold on Carden. "Where's Nigel?"

The vampire straightened the sunglasses on his face. "Nigel?" he asked with mock confusion. "Oh, you mean the gimp. He's getting his broken legs healed."

Carden looked around, taking in the cold, empty hallway. "What the hell is that noise?"

Reece nodded towards the cell. "Our newest Wild Power," he replied.

Carden looked through the window into the cell and jerked away. "Shit that's bright."

"It's a spell," the witch explained. "The light mimics sunlight and is very effective at weakening vampires."

The vampire had taken off his sunglasses and was rubbing his eyes. "Why is she screaming then?"

Reece sighed. "I have no idea. But she's been at it for a long time now. I was about to call Anton to see if he'll agree to stop the spell. Whatever else it's doing, the spell is hurting her."

Retrieving his cell phone from his vest pocket, Reece turned to find Carden smirking at him. "What?" the witch asked.

"Nothing," Carden replied innocently, still smiling. And then offhandedly he asked, "The girl is pretty hot, don't you think?"

Reece rolled his eyes. "The girl barely looks older than a child."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. I've never seen a child with curves like that. Besides, this is the Night World, Cahill. Appearances are deceiving. Would you believe I'm forty-three years old?"

"With your personality I wouldn't have put you a day over thirteen," Reece replied as he turned his attention back to his cell phone.

"Ooh, and now the gloves come off," Carden muttered.

The witch shook his head as he called up to Anton Parish's office.

"Is she awake?" the lamia asked as soon as he answered the call.

"Not exactly," Reece replied. "She's screaming bloody murder, but I don't think she's actually conscious."

"I've never heard of anyone having that kind of reaction before," Anton said. "Strange."

"Yeah," Reece agreed. "I'd like permission to take the spell off."

"Absolutely not. That spell may be the only thing that can protect us from her."

The witch paused as he listened to the girl's screams. "Sir, this girl is in pain. And how are we supposed to interrogate her if she's unconscious and screaming her head off?"

Anton sighed in frustration. "Just give it some more time and see if she comes out of it. I'll see if there's something else we can do to keep ourselves safe from her."

"Thank you, sir."

"Keep me posted."

Reece hung up his phone and looked back in the cell at the vampire girl. She was still writhing on the bed, her hair in tangles as it whipped around her.

"What did Anton say?" Carden asked from behind him.

"He said to wait and he'll see what he can do," Reece murmured.

"Not what you wanted to hear, was it?"

Reece shrugged. "Orders are orders."

They were both quiet for a long moment and the silence was somehow comfortable. As difficult as Carden had been this morning, Reece had to admit that he liked the vampire. Their fight with Angie had changed things; without speaking, they had learned to work together and had earned each other's respect.

Carden cleared his throat. "They found the vampire who shot Beth," he said quietly. "Did you hear?"

Reece couldn't answer. He struggled to swallow down the grief that was suddenly threatening to choke him. He only shook his head in reply.

"He's dead, Cahill," Carden assured him and Reece was disturbed by the relief he felt. A life was a life. It wasn't right to revel in anyone's death. "They found him lying outside a parking garage only a block away, shot in the head."

"Do they know who it was?" Reece asked in a dull voice.

"Something Chaucer," Carden replied. "I can't remember his first name. It was something girly…Anyway, he wasn't local. Daybreak checked with their Night World contacts and nobody ever heard of the guy. One might have seen him in a bar a few weeks ago, but that's it. The interesting thing, though, is that when he was spotted in the bar, he was with a younger dark-haired girl. A vampire."

"This just keeps getting better and better," Reece replied sarcastically.

"Yup," Carden agreed. "So listen, screw orders. We can't exactly get her to talk when she's going crazy like this. Go in there and stop the spell. Get some answers."

Reece thought about it. Anton was right; the spell might be the only protection the Daybreakers had from this Wild Power. By taking it off, Reece would be putting everyone in the compound at risk. But he could get answers from her. And for a reason that he couldn't explain, Reece didn't think that this girl was as dangerous as she'd been perceived. He kept picturing that smile she'd given him before she collapsed—that grateful, brilliant smile.

"Go," Carden urged. "I'll cover you from out here."

The witch nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem," the vampire replied, the smirk reappearing on his face. "Just don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Bite me," Reece retorted as he began to unlock the door to the cell.

"Oh, you wish."

The witch heaved open the massive door and stepped into the white light. The vampire girl was right there, lying on the bed a few feet away from him. Looking at her, Reece felt a vague pressure on his chest. He closed the cell door behind him and took a moment to breathe and calm his nerves before getting to work.

* * *

The bed underneath her was lumpy and Lex could feel a spring poking into her back. From behind her eyelids, the world was a blazing red from the glaring white light that filled the room, beating down on her relentlessly, hour after hour. Dimly, she knew that the light was a spell because she'd been at the edge of consciousness when she heard it being cast. But it was extremely potent. It slowly drained and weakened Alexandra until it took all of her effort and concentration simply to breathe. She felt sick and feverish as she writhed on the mattress, lacking the strength to even lift her limbs.

There was no way to keep track of the time. The light on her was incessant and in her solitary confinement, there was no one she could ask. And as time went on, Lex couldn't even form words any more. She began to drift, sliding into the waking dreams of the mad.

The bed beneath her seemed to tilt and Lex felt as if she was upside down, sinking into the mattress heel over head. No…she was on a wave, lifted up and down as the ocean stretched toward the shore. She smiled, she laughed. The bright sky above her did not hurt, but instead calmed and soothed her. The water was cold as she floated on her back, but the sun was warm and she felt so _alive_…

She was drowning, dying. She had been sucked under the surface, pulled under him. His body melded with hers as he filled her mind and tore at her heart. He swallowed her life away, one drop at a time, until she ceased to be. But then there was blood in her mouth and she could breathe again…

His breath was hot in her ear as he lay on top of her. Then his hands were on her, and she pulled away into her own mind. No, no, he wouldn't stand for that. With his teeth in her throat, he forced her back into her body. He took her soul into him, stealing her memories and emotions. She was eternally young, forever small and weak. But maybe she didn't fight back because she simply didn't want to. His words became her truths as he became her god. He brought her life or death, pleasure or pain. His will was hers. She was a slave, living only for his lips, his touch…

His sword sliding through her flesh as he laughed, letting her fall helplessly to the scalding floor. Flames dancing in his eyes and his spit sizzling on her forehead as her Maker left her for dead in the inferno. Her skin blistering, her hair on fire, she screamed…

Darkness slammed around her so fast that for a moment, Lex believed she had finally died. But then she felt air moving in and out of her lungs more easily, the crushing weight on her chest suddenly gone. For a long time she lay on her side and reveled in the sensation of the air passing over her lips as she breathed.

Slowly Alexandra opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by darkness, the unnatural white light dissolved. As her vision adjusted, she realized that there was a column of fluorescent light spilling onto the floor of the tiny room from a window on the door. And standing just beyond the light, there was a figure.

Lex tried to push herself up on the bed to scramble away, but her arms collapsed under her own weight. The springs of the mattress creaked loudly as she fell back on her side.

"You're still weak," a voice said. It was a deep and soft voice that seemed to slide across her skin like a warm breeze.

In the dimness of the cell, Lex could see the sharp spikes of his hair, the chiseled line of his jaw, the curve of his biceps. He was tall and muscular, and sensing the waves of Power that radiated from him, she knew that he was a witch.

He started to move toward her and Lex again tried to claw away from him.

"Easy," the witch told her. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to check and see if you're okay. Will you let me do that?"

Alexandra hesitated and then finally nodded.

The witch came closer to her very slowly, as if to prove that he meant no harm. Carefully, he sat down next to her on the bed as Alexandra curled her legs underneath her and wrapped her arms tightly around herself.

"Look at me," the witch said and Alexandra lifted her eyes to him. In the dark, she could not tell what color his eyes were, but she remembered that they were green. This was the witch from the alley, the one that had looked at her in disgust.

Alexandra stiffened and turned away from him.

"What's wrong?" he asked. There seemed to be no revulsion now, only concern.

Lex shook her head, feeling ashamed.

"Are you hurt?"

Alexandra started to shake her head again, but stopped. "My—my throat hurts," she replied hoarsely. Her vocal cords were raw and sore.

"You were screaming," the witch replied. "For a long time."

Given how vivid her dreams had been, Lex was not surprised. But the witch seemed disturbed. "Do you want me to heal you?" he asked.

"Where am I?" Alexandra asked instead.

"You're safe. You're in a Circle Daybreak compound."

Lex looked around her cell and back at the witch. "Circle Daybreak?" she asked skeptically. "I thought they were passive."

The corner of the witch's mouth turned up. "Sometimes it seems they feel that the end justifies the means."

"What end?" Alexandra demanded, raising her voice as she became more anxious. "What do you want from me?"

"You're here so we can protect you," he answered.

"Then why am I locked up in a cell? Why was I beaten down with sunlight?"

"That was for our protection."

"From what?"

"From you," the witch replied simply.

The answer was so ridiculous that Lex burst out laughing. When she saw the confused and worried expression on the witch's face, she only laughed harder. She rolled back onto her side on the bed, a tear sliding from her eye and across her temple.

Her eyes stung and Alexandra was abruptly silent.

"You're a Wild Power," the witch said as if he'd been oblivious to Lex's outburst. You killed Genevieve Harmen. You work for Angela Catellini."

Alexandra closed her eyes before another tear could escape. This was just too much to take and she was too tired to understand. All she knew was that she was a prisoner here, powerless and alone. No, no, never again. Tristan would come for her, he would save her.

"Where's Tristan?" she demanded, bolting upright again.

"Tristan?" The witch frowned. "Is his last name Chaucer?"

His careful, professional tone filled her with dread. "Where is he?" Lex gasped.

"He's dead," he replied.

"Oh, no," Alexandra groaned. He couldn't be dead. She needed him. He'd died while he was still angry at her. She hadn't told him anything and now she never could. "No, no, no, no, no…" She got up on her hands and knees and heaved violently over the side of the bed.

And then the witch was there, pulling her hair back from her face as she wretched. "It's okay. Calm down," he said softly, as if he cared. It was comforting and disconcerting. He was too damn close.

When she finally lifted her head, Lex shoved at him. "Get away from me! What happened to him? Did you do it?"

"No," the witch replied coldly. "We're not sure what happened. He shot down a member of my team, one that was made to look like Genevieve Harmen." His voice was unsteady. Pain flashed in his eyes for a moment and was gone. "Then he was found shot in the head outside of a parking garage near here."

Lex remembered that strange pulse that she had felt from Angie when the fiery vampire had telepathically mentioned Tristan. Angie had known, Alexandra realized. "Oh god," she whispered. "Angie."

The witch looked sharply at Lex. "You do work for her, then?"

"No," she replied. "I mean—yes. But no."

"Which is it?"

Alexandra didn't want to explain. The disgust was back in the witch's gaze and she knew there was nothing she could say that would make him understand.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Why the hell are you asking so many questions?" Alexandra snapped loudly, sitting up straight.

The witch looked towards the door, as if he were waiting for something, and then turned back to Lex again. "Calm down, okay?" he pleaded.

"Stop telling me to calm down! If you're going to rape me, just go ahead and get it over with. Just stop asking me all these questions and stop screwing with me. Please."

Alexandra heard the witch's quick intake of breath, as if she had startled him. "I—I'm not screwing with you. Goddess, I am not going to hurt you."

Lex laughed bitterly. She gave him a coy smile that came too easily to her. It was like riding a bike. "What's the matter?" she asked him salaciously. "I'm locked up here, weak and helpless. I can't fight, but I can still struggle. Doesn't this do it for you?"

"Does it do it for you?" the witch countered.

She shrugged. "It has its moments," Alexandra replied lightly.

"I don't believe that." His voice was too warm, then, too serious.

Her eyes stung again with scalding tears. "Believe whatever the hell you want to believe!" she cried. "I don't give a damn. Just let me go when you're done!"

And then somehow she was sobbing. The bed squeaked as she brought her hands up to cover her face. It was humiliating, and she strained to push all of the memories, the dreams she'd been having, into the recesses of her mind. It was over now. It had been three years. The girl she'd been had died in the fire, she would never be her again.

The witch gently pushed her hair back from her face. "Hey," he said softly. "Look at me. I promise you, _nothing_ is going to happen to you. We couldn't hurt you even if we wanted to. You're a Wild Power."

Lex looked up at him, puzzled. He'd said that before, but it hadn't registered. "A—what?" she asked.

The witch looked at her doubtfully. "Don't you remember the blue fire you threw at me in the alley?"

Alexandra shook her head slowly and felt her tears drying on her cheeks. Her memories were still hazy and clouded by the dreams she'd had.

"Tell me what you remember," the witch pleaded.

"I don't know," Lex said shortly. "I was dying when I saw the witch girl—Genevieve—and then she was dying. And then you were there and you were looking at me like…"

"Like what?" the witch prompted her after a moment.

Lex turned her face away from him, embarrassed that she'd started this. "Like you hated me, like I was the most repulsive thing you'd ever seen."

"And that mattered to you?" he asked her incredulously.

Staring at the wall, Alexandra didn't answer. She couldn't say why she'd been so hurt by the witch's hate. She didn't even know him.

"Tell me," he implored softly, almost a whisper. He'd moved closer to her and Lex shivered in spite of herself.

His fingers were in her hair again, pushing it back behind her shoulder so that he could see the profile of her face. It felt too good, the way his hand tugged at her curls as he swept them back. When was the last time she had noticed the allure of such a simple gesture? Maybe she never had.

Out of the corner of her eye, Alexandra could see the witch watching her. Waiting for an answer, waiting for a response. It reminded her of Tristan, of the many times he'd tried to be patient with her, waiting for her to trust him some day. But Tristan's gaze had never had this kind of magnetism. The witch's eyes were pulling at her, and without wanting to, Lex found herself turning to face him.

Close, he was too close, but she didn't back away. She could feel the warmth of his body next to her as she slowly lifted her head to meet his eyes. The green depths startled her and against her will, Alexandra was being drawn into them. She could feel her Power rising to the surface, demanding that she delve into this witch, sink into his soul.

Lex squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the Power back. It had already taken over her too many times that day and she was afraid that it was getting stronger. She was afraid that Angie had told her the truth those months ago, that her power had a will of its own.

"What is it?" the witch asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she whispered. "Nothing."

The witch sighed. "Look, you're going to have to start answering some of my questions," he said quietly.

"Why?"

"You're a Wild Power and Gen was supposed to be the last. We need to know what's going on in order to protect you."

"I don't know what's going on," Alexandra snapped. "I'm not a Wild Power. I don't even know what you're talking about. All I know is that my…my friend is dead and I'm being held prisoner by a witch who doesn't understand the concept of _personal space_."

The witch flinched and moved back a bit on the bed. "Better?"

Lex glared at him. He was still only a foot away.

"I'm sorry. I want you to trust me," he told her.

"That's a tall order. I don't trust anyone." Her own words stung because they were so painfully true. For all he'd done for her, she hadn't trusted Tristan. And she'd never trusted herself.

"Sounds lonely," the witch murmured. "What are you afraid of?"

"You dare to ask me that when you've got me locked up in here?"

"Good point," he conceded. He relaxed his posture, leaned back on his hands on the bed. He was changing tactics. "Okay. What do you feel safe telling me?"

"Fuck off," Lex ventured.

He smiled. "Anything else? Can you tell me your name? It would be nice to call you something other than 'Hey you'."

Alexandra crossed her arms in front of her. "What's _your_ name?" she countered.

"Reece," the witch answered easily. "Reece Cahill."

She faltered, took a breath. She didn't even realize that she was going to answer the witch until she did. "Lex. Well, Alexandra, really. Harper."

"Pretty name."

"You too."

Reece laughed shortly. "I can't say I've ever had anyone tell me that before. Do you prefer 'Lex' or 'Alexandra'?"

"Doesn't matter. Depends on how many syllables you want to bother with."

"Alright. Well, let's see…I'm from Montreal," Reece offered. "How about you? Where are you from?"

"Nowhere. Everywhere. We moved around a lot."

"Your vagueness is impressive."

"It's a skill."

"When did you get to DC?"

Lex shrugged. "A few months ago. Tristan liked it."

"It's a nice city. Hell of a lot warmer than Montreal right now. Have you ever been there?"

"We may have passed through last year. I don't know. Cities kind of blend together after a while."

The witch paused and licked his lips. "I think you already know that I'm a witch. Are you lamia?"

"What do you think?" cocking her head to the side.

"You're answering my question with a question, so I think I must have crossed a line."

Alexandra gave him a tight smile. "You learn quickly."

"I try."

Lex was quiet for a moment. "I'm not lamia," she said at last, and then was appalled at herself. How could she have let that slip? Now the witch knew that she was a made vampire and that she'd been made when she was rather young. And then maybe he would be able to guess why. Alexandra dug her fingernails into her palms and looked down at the floor.

"It's okay," Reece said, noticing her anxiety. He pushed himself off his arms and straightened up.

"It's _not_."

The witch reached over to her slowly and placed his hand on her arm. It felt warm through her silk shirt, but for some reason Alexandra felt a chill pass through her. Her breath caught in her throat. When she didn't shrug him off, Reece slid his hand down to hers. When he touched her fingers to unclench her fist, Lex felt a violent shock of electricity and hastily snatched her hand away.

"What did you do to me?" she hissed.

Reece was rubbing his own shaking hand. "I didn't do anything. Goddess. It happened to me in the alley and I thought it was some kind of aftershock from the blue fire. But now…"

"Now, what?" Lex asked impatiently.

The witch looked at her and Alexandra could feel the heat in his gaze. Her pulse quickened. "Now there's only one way to be sure," he finished.

In one fluid motion, he slid both of his hands up through her hair and drew her towards him, tipping her head back as he leaned down. His lips brushed against hers and Lex was startled into stillness. Reece kissed her lightly, not coaxing or demanding anything from her, and it made Alexandra tremble. She'd never felt something so simple and innocent in her life. The electricity surged through her again, but it was less jolting now. It felt warm and sweet and Lex tentatively began to respond to the kiss.

Feeling her respond, Reece seemed to lose some measure of his control. He pulled Alexandra even closer and kissed her deeply, his fingers tangling further into the mass of her hair. Lex felt as if the bed and floor beneath her had fallen away, there was nothing but this witch's lips on hers, his warmth flowing into her. At the first contact of his mind with hers, Lex shuddered. She felt greedy and desperate for it; she needed his strength and faith. Reece seemed to resuscitate the parts of her soul that had been ravaged so long ago. She could be whole again.

But as their minds melded together, she began to panic. He was in her head now, he could see what she had tried so desperately to keep hidden, to forget. Her weaknesses were utterly exposed, ready for him to discover and to use against her, the way her Maker had. Over and over again. He was in her mind, taking up space, pressing against her. She couldn't hide from him, he was everywhere. He was overpowering. She tried to remember her mantra, tried to keep the hysteria from escalating…

Breathe.

_Your mind is your own. Everything is okay._

_Your mind is your own. Everything is okay._

_Your mind is your own. Everything is okay._

_Lex…_she heard the witch gasp.

"No!" Alexandra cried, pushing the witch away from her. She fell back on the bed, gasping for breath. She brought her fingers to her lips and felt how swollen they were from the kisses. How long had they been doing that?

Oh god, oh god, he'd been in her mind. He'd seen her soul, stark and desolate, so easily destroyed. She could be his prey now, his plaything, his slave. He could play with her the way that Angie played with her.

Lex couldn't cry now. There were no tears. There was nothing, she was nothing. She turned over onto her side, facing the wall, and pulled her knees into her chest. Closing her eyes, she wished for oblivion.


	12. Rage and Madness

Reece feltAlexandra pull away and he was bereft without her small, delicate body in his arms. He was breathing hard, heart pounding, trying to get his bearings. He put his head down and counted to ten.

When Reece looked up again, Lex had curled up into herself on the mattress. He didn't think he'd ever seen someone so petrified and it scared him. Reece cursed himself. He shouldn't have kissed her, he could have simply touched her hand again and he would have known for sure. And it was unlike him to do something so impulsive, so reckless. All Reece knew was that at that moment he'd _needed_ to kiss her. And the instant he'd felt her kiss him back, he'd been lost.

He looked at her, his soulmate, lying stiffly on the bed, caging herself against him. Anger began to burn through him, foreign and searing. He felt murderous, wanting to tear apart whoever had tortured Lex. Reece had always been known for his civility and to have this wrath consume him now was both frightening and intoxicating.

The images still struck him. He'd only had enough time to see glimpses of what had been done to Lex, but it had been more than he could stand. And it stung to know that Alexandra believed he was capable of those atrocities as well. Reece was a witch and a healer above all. He couldn't fathom getting off on torture.

And yet he sat rigid and seething. His muscles were aching from the need for vengeance, from the need to _hurt_. If the person who had tormented Lex was in the room now, Reece was afraid of what he might do. The alarmingly creative ideas that formed in his mind filled him with a sick sense of satisfaction.

He needed to get out of here. He needed air. He was choking on hate.

Reece pushed himself off the bed and fumbled with the locks on the cell door. He didn't spare a glance at his soulmate as he walked out into the bright hallway and pulled the door shut behind him, leaving her alone in the dark. He couldn't look at her right now. He had to get air.

Carden looked at him curiously, no doubt about to make some obnoxious comment, but something in Reece's eyes warned the vampire to stay silent. "Watch her," Reece ordered quietly and then sprinted down the hall.

No, no time to wait for the elevator. It was too slow and Reece needed to move. He wrenched open the stairwell door and ran. Choking and wheezing, the witch tore up the stairs, flight after flight. He stomped his feet on each step, trying to push the hate out of him. He shoved other Daybreakers out of his way and barely heard their cries of protest. The only sound he heard was his heartbeat thundering in his head. Tiring, he used the railing to haul himself up when he thought his legs might give out. Sweat poured down his face, but Reece felt icy prickles breaking out all over his body. Pins and needles. Dark spots swam in front of his eyes and then he could hardly see.

Finally the witch made it up to the ground floor, barely able to walk. Reece hobbled awkwardly through the lobby as fast as he could and burst through the main doors of the compound.

Air, cool air around him. Flowing into his lungs, skimming over his face. Reece fell to his knees, crumpled in on himself. Rich and perfect air, breathe it in. Breathe out the rage. Again. Again. Air in, hate out.

His breath slowed. He coughed and his hands shook badly. Didn't matter. His head had cleared as exhaustion overtook the horrible anger. The adrenaline was gone and Reece was surprised to find that he was still intact. The shattered pieces of himself had somehow reassembled and he was now who he had always been.

"Are you alright?" an accented voice asked behind him.

Reece exhaled slowly. "I think so," he replied.

With a hiss, Nigel sat down next to Reece on the compound's steps. He was wearing scrubs now and was barefoot. Nigel was nearly a foot shorter than Reece, but the smaller witch still possessed an air of strength that Reece was grateful for at that moment.

"How're your legs?" Reece asked him.

"A little sore, but otherwise they're as good as new. What are you doing out here?"

Reece threw the other witch a sardonic glance. "I could ask you the same question. Did Carden tell you to check up on me?"

"More or less. He called to catch me up on our situation and said he was guarding the girl. And then I believe his exact words were, 'Cahill's losing it. Talk to him before his head explodes. Mopping up brain matter is not part of my job description.'"

"Carden has a way with words."

"Doesn't he? So I'll ask you again, what are you doing out here?"

Reece did not want to talk about this now. His composure felt fragile. If he starting thinking about Lex again, he wasn't sure he could keep himself together. He needed time, needed to think things through. "I just wanted some air," he told Nigel.

The other witch nodded. "I see. And you left the girl that Thierry specifically told _you_ to guard with Carden?"

"It appears that way."

Nigel just looked at him steadily. "Reece, we're part of a team. Just tell me what's going on."

Reece ran his fingers through his hair, which was soaked with sweat, and wiped his hand on his pants. The other witch was right; as a member of his team, Nigel deserved to know. "The girl…" Reece started. "The Wild Power or whatever she is…she's my soulmate."

It was the first time he'd said it aloud and for some reason the admission shook him. A strange warmth flooded him and Reece had to look down to hide the smile that captured his lips. He'd heard so much about the soulmate principle in the past few years, but he'd never contemplated it happening to him. It wasn't love at first sight or at first touch, no. But it was still powerful and captivating. It was an uncomfortable stretching of the heart to make room for another. It was the inexplicable and undeniable urge to know anything and everything about her. It was lust and infatuation. It was the complete and utter alteration of life and self as he knew it.

"That complicates things," Nigel replied.

Reece laughed humorlessly. "Oh, I know. Do you have a soulmate?"

The smaller witch looked off into the distance. "No, not that I know of. But I saw it happen to one of the witches in my Circle. Shannon. Her soulmate was a wolf shifter that she just happened to bump into on the way to a pub one night. It wasn't easy for either of them, a Daybreak witch and a Night World wolf. In the end they decided to stay apart, each living in their own world. But he would come back for a night now and again…and Shannon would be a wreck for weeks afterwards. She loves him."

"Genevieve loved Aiden St. Helen, even after he tried to kill her."

Nigel nodded. "She did. Regardless of its benefits, the soulmate principle doesn't make love any easier. We are who we are. Maybe if soulmates found each other at birth before life screws them up and pulls them in different directions, it would be the perfect bliss it's supposed to be. But."

The witch didn't continue, but then he didn't have to. "But," Reece agreed.

"Did she tell you anything about Angie?"

"Not really. She mentioned Angie's name, seems to think Angie killed the vampire who shot Beth. But she doesn't know what she is, Nigel. She doesn't know anything about the Wild Powers."

"Wrong place, wrong time?"

"Maybe. I've got a bad feeling about it. St. Helen was there, watching from the rooftop of the next building. We need to know how much he knows."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I've got to talk to her. We both broke down when we found out…I shouldn't have left her."

"You needed time. Maybe she needed it too."

"I've got to talk to her," Reece repeated, slowly standing up. His legs were wobbly under him; he needed to heal himself after his stair-climbing marathon.

Nigel grimaced. "Cahill, I hate to be the one to say it, but Carden isn't here so…"

Reece looked quizzically. "What is it?"

"She's okay for right now. Go shower first. You stink and you look like hell."

Realizing how grimy he felt, Reece replied, "Thanks for the advice."

* * *

The compound was unassuming from the outside. It appeared to be a four-story brick office building just outside of Silver Spring. The humans who passed by probably thought that it contained doctors' offices, law firms, accountants. Little did they know that the compound stretched twenty-five stories below the ground level and it now held one of the four people who were destined to save humanity from the Night World.

Aiden didn't give a damn about humanity or the Night World. The only thing he cared about was that his Eve was inside, hiding in the body of another. He had to get to her.

He watched the Daybreak compound from across the street on the third floor of a similar looking building, which actually did house a law firm. The senior partner, whose corner office Aiden now occupied, lay on the floor behindhis oversized cherry desk, completely drained of blood.

Aiden was tired and sated. After he'd been buzzed into the building, he promptly began a rampage, biting as many humans as he could stand and snapping the necks of the others. All of the employees at this branch of Watson, Henderson, and Malloy were dead. It had been a long time since Aiden had killed this many people, humans or Night World. Complete decimation used to be his specialty at Daybreak and it had earned him the nickname "Hellraiser," which he now despised.

Eve hadn't liked how much death he caused, even though she knew he was attacking those who would have seen her slaughtered and Daybreak destroyed. Of course, she didn't know that the ones he killed had been Angie's enemies as well. Either way, Aiden had stopped killing. For her.

It was an odd thing for him to do, Aiden admitted to himself now. At the time he rationalized it as being necessary: Genevieve didn't like it when he killed and to earn her trust and continue obtaining information from her, Aiden needed to stop. But he could have hidden his kills from her, as he hid all the parts of himself that belonged to Angie. His chose not to. Eve's abhorrence for killing had affected him somehow.

When had she begun to change him?

From the very beginning, he realized. She'd gotten under his skin the moment he'd recognized her as his soulmate when she'd thrown her arms around him. He had been assigned to kill her that day and he hadn't been able to. He'd told himself that, as her soulmate, he could get information from her about the Wild Powers that would be useful to the Night World. He would kill her later.

He hadn't been able to do it later, either. Aiden saw her violet eyes again, staring up at him with shear love as he wrung all of the breath from her. If he'd held on another moment, he would have done it. But instead he had let go and listened as she coughed and gasped for air. Relieved.

Damn it, he hated her. Eve had made him smile and laugh, made him shiver and gasp. She made him forget about all that he'd worked for: the existence of the Night World, the preservation of his kind, his position with Angie. One touch and all of that was gone. He had nothing left now. She'd destroyed it all, she'd destroyed him.

And now the illustrious Hellraiser watched the compound that was supposed to keep her safe. He smiled at that. She, more than anyone, should know that she was as vulnerable there as she was anywhere else. If she hadn't learned that yet, he was damn well going to prove it to her.

He knew that she was there. He'd seen the auburn-haired witch that had carried her from the alley right outside of the compound and he'd seen the other witch that had been struck with the blue fire as well. More than that, Aiden could feel her. He could sense her in the air that he breathed.

He ached for her. Already in his mind, he'd stopped thinking of Eve as a slim girl with blond hair and violet eyes. When he pictured Eve in his arms now, he envisioned the petite, curvaceous body she had escaped into. He imagined running his fingers through the glossy spiraled hair that had caught his attention on the subway, gazing into the clear blue eyes that had pierced his soul and given him solace. Aiden wondered if Eve had known how attracted he'd been to Alexandra when she had chosen to flee into the vampire. Did she know how Alexandra had heated his blood when she'd reached beyond his mask of cool detachment to see the tormented man that he truly was? Had she known that it was Alexandra who had made him feel the link connecting his soul to Eve's after he'd cut himself off from it for days?

Damn it, he loved her. It was all he could do to keep himself from rushing into the compound now to gather her into his arms and ravage her until she begged him to stop. He needed to lose himself in her brilliant blue eyes, in the lush curves of her body, in the heat of the soulmate link. He had nothing else left.

He wanted her dead, and yet he needed to touch her. He needed tofeel her racing heartbeat pressed against his own.

How could one person be so at odds with himself? Aiden felt as if the contradicting parts of his soul were slowly annihilating each other. He didn't know what would be left of him when it was over.

Watching the compound now, he didn't care. He would find a way inside, find a way to get to Eve. He didn't know what would happen then. His mind swarmed with images of her blood on his hands and flashes of her mouth pressed to his, her body shivering under his.

Aiden pressed his hand against the cool window. It was dark outside now and the compound's security lights shone brightly, illuminating the front entrance and the sidewalk. He knew that the secret tunnel exit would be well-guarded now, after the failed attempt to get Eve to safety, and he would need a powerful witch to open that door into the compound anyway. But he had to find a way in soon, he didn't know how much time he had before Angie figured out that Genevieve was still alive. Aiden had learned a few tricks over the years to block Angie from his mind, conscious and beyond. But blocking her only raised her suspicions. No doubt the vampire was in her penthouse that very moment, calling contacts and pressing snitches for information. Aiden had to get to Eve before Angie did.

It came to him so easily that Aiden was almost taken aback. He'd always appreciated Okum's razor, that all things being equal, the simplest explanation was the right one. It seemed to follow that the simplest way into the compound was the best way.

Abandoning his post at the window, Aiden jogged through the law firm's main office and down the stairs. The chilly night air struck him as he stepped out onto the street and it felt so good. Eve didn't like nights like this, where the wind still had a cold bite. She'd always loved the sultry, summer air that he thought was stifling—they'd bickered about the power of the air conditioning in the car all summer long.

Aiden St. Helen walked up the stairs to the Daybreak compound, as if he had never left. He opened the doors and glanced around the lobby. It was exactly the same as it had been. Of course, it was. He'd only been gone for six days. Still, he felt strange and outside of himself as he walked towards the security station.

The guards finally saw him and one of them did a double take. "Freeze!" he shouted at Aiden, drawing his gun.

Aiden innocently raised his hands in the air, his palms open and fingers spread. He watched in amusement as one of the other guards frantically picked up the phone and dialed Anton's number. The older lamia would be upstairs in his living quarters by now, annoyed by the call that was probably interrupting his dinner. The guard hastily tried to explain the situation. He sounded so crazed that Aiden laughed silently.

Two other guards slowly approached the intruder with the weapons drawn and cocked. Aiden made no move to stop them as they wrenched his arms behind his back had shackled him in wooden handcuffs. He only smiled as they roughly pulled him to his feet and then shoved him through the doors that led to the main hallway and elevators.

He was pushed into the elevators and the guards pressed the button for the 25th underground floor. "Maximum security?" Aiden asked proudly. "You flatter me. I hadn't realized just how dangerous I am."

He laughed loudly then and the guards looked at him warily. Oh, their expressions were priceless. Their own Hellraiser was scaring them. This was too perfect. Aiden laughed until tears streamed down his face. He could barely stand when the elevator doors opened. The guards had to supporthis weight as they led him down the hallway towards the cells because the vampire was doubled over, convulsing with laughter.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" one guard mumbled to the other.

"His soulmate died," the other replied. "I've heard that it can make you insane."

"She's not dead," Aiden gasped, awkwardly wiping the tears from his face with his shoulder. "She's not dead."

One of the guards looked at the other and shook his head. "It's a shame. Hellraiser was one of the best."

The second guard unlocked the door to a cell and shoved Aiden inside, still handcuffed. Aiden fell to his knees on the cement floor and threw his head back. Insane, insane. They had no idea.

* * *

Reece let the scalding water pour over him, hoping that it would wash and burn the day off him. He'd never felt so out of control in his life. In a matter of hours he had turned an important mission into a monstrous clusterfuck, found a new Wild Power who was also his soulmate, and had come precariously close to a nervous breakdown. And now…Reece didn't know what would happen next. He only knew that he needed to see Lex and he needed to talk to her about what had happened.

He dressed in some of the extra clothes he had brought from Canada, glad to be rid of the black gear he'd warn during the mission. He glanced at his reflection in the bathroom mirror and was taken aback. He seemed years older than he had when he left Montreal. There were dark circles under his eyes and his cheeks had hollowed a little. He needed food and sleep, but didn't have the patience for either.

Reece took the elevator down to the bottom floor. He'd done a decent job of healing the strain in his leg muscles, but a fine tremor still remained. Well he deserved it for his stupidity. Running up twenty-five flights of stairs was hardly a healthy or effective way to cope with what had happened today. But it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

Carden was still standing guard at Lex's door. The vampire could be an intimidating presence, even at this distance. He was a little shorter than Reece, but Carden probably outweighed him by at least twenty pounds. The vampire was solid muscle.

Right now Carden seemed bored. He was leaning back against the wall, staring off into space. But though Reece was silent as he stepped into the hallway, Carden's gaze snapped over to him. Despite appearances, he was acutely alert.

"Did you get all clean and pretty for me?" the vampire drawled when Reece had gotten closer to him.

"How is she?" Reece asked, brushing off Carden's joke.

"She stayed curled up for a while, but now she's working on wearing down the floor by pacing back and forth like a lunatic. Is this the effect you usually have on women?"

"Alexandra," the witch said shortly. "She's my soulmate." The words came easier this time, but still warmed him.

"I figured," Carden said surprisingly. "You should have seen your face when you ran out of there. It was like you'd touched a live wire. I looked the same way when—" the vampire broke off abruptly. He ran his fingers roughly through his short brown hair, as if he were trying to shake something off of him. The muscles in his shoulders had tensed. But when Carden spoke again, his tone was as casual as ever. "Did you find out anything else from her, besides the obvious?"

Reece considered pushing the vampire to finish what he'd been about to say, but decided to let it go. The last thing he needed was Carden getting defensive. "I got her name. Alexandra Harper. She was involved with the vampire who killed Beth. They only got to DC a few months ago, before that they traveled a lot. She doesn't know that she's a Wild Power. I told Nigel, she doesn't seem to know what a Wild Power even is. If that's true, it means that when she killed Gen, she didn't know what Gen was. But I still don't know if she's involved with Angie."

Carden focused on the window into the cell. "She's whacked, Cahill. The screaming, the fetal position thing, the pacing… and now she looks like she's going to be sick."

Reece pushed his way in front of the vampire to see Lex for himself. His soulmate was bent over, as if she were vomiting. Her hair was in a tangled mass around her face. He remembered how silky it had been when he'd pulled it back from her face earlier. He should be in there right now. "Shit," he mumbled. "I'm going to try to talk to her again. Hopefully it will turn out better this time. You mind keeping watch?"

"No. I've always liked to watch," Carden purred. "Just make sure the show is worth it."

"You're a sick, sick man."


	13. Promises, Promises

She kept her breathing light and even, blocked out all physical sensations from her mind. She thought of whiteness and static. Nothing but breath. She no longer existed, her body was gone. Then there were no more thoughts at all as she felt herself start to drift away, everything was gone…

But then she felt the witch again and was wrenched back into her body.

_Damn him!_

He had her locked up in a cell so she couldn't run. Now somehow he was keeping her mind grounded, denying her the only safe place she'd never known. She couldn't escape and Lex nearly cried with frustration.

This hadn't happened since she'd been with her Maker. In the first few nights after he'd taken her, he realized that when he looked down into her eyes beneath him, she wasn't there. There was no fear radiating from her, only her glassy blue eyes staring vacantly at the ceiling and it enraged him. He wanted to feel her fear and her struggle. So he would bite her throat and wrap his mind around hers, forcing it back into herself, making her feel everything he was doing to her. Eventually, Lex had stopped trying to break away at all. She lost herself in him and that's when she truly became his.

God, she was disgusting, both then and now. Hell, here she was—after swearing she'd never submit to anyone like that again—actually _intrigued_ by Reece and the strange sensation of his mind anchoring her to reality. She could feel him somewhere nearby, overcome with anger and fear. Lex could almost hear Reece's breath in her ear as he tried to get control of himself and part of her wanted to let her guard down and listen. If she couldn't escape into herself, she might as well flee into him. His mind was a beacon of warmth and safety, hers for the taking.

No, no. She didn't do that, not unless the person was about to die. She wouldn't become her Maker. Lex tried to beat her power back, tried to force the witch away, but she couldn't. Whatever was connecting her mind to the witch had nothing to do with her power and it was far beyond her control.

Lex suddenly felt edgy and itchy, like she couldn't stand being in her own skin. She stretched out of her fetal position and began pacing the cell. The room was small and she could only make it five strides before she had to whip around to walk the other way. It wasn't long before she was dizzy from the constant turns, but she didn't care. The restless energy that took hold of her blocked out the sound of the witch in her head and it was a relief.

How could this be happening to her again? How could he be doing this to her? A slave again…damn it, she'd been right after all. She would never be anything more than what she had always been. She knew it. It had only been a matter of time. She'd had it too easy the past three years, under the care of a vampire who was simply more than she deserved. Now she was back where she belonged.

Oh god. Lex bent over to vomit, but there was nothing left in her stomach to expel. She could only dry heave until she felt like her eyes would burst.

When the door opened, she was startled and stood up too quickly. Her head spun. Her hand was still pressed to her chest when Reece Cahill entered and slammed the door shut behind him.

He had cleaned up a little. His spiky auburn hair was wet and he smelled like soap and aftershave. Instead of the black gear, he was now wearing a gray tee-shirt and jeans. Simple, non-threatening clothing. Just the sweet boy next door. It was for her benefit, Lex was sure.

Their eyes connected from across the room and Alexandra felt the touch of his mind like a physical blow, slamming her back into the wall.

"Sorry," Reece gasped, coming closer to her. "I didn't mean to do that. This is new for me…I don't know what I'm doing."

Lex rubbed the back of her head. She'd have a lump there soon. Her breath was too shallow and she was cringing back against the wall, as if she could sink into it and become invisible. She just wanted to avoid this moment with this witch.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Peachy," Lex replied, crossing her arms in front of herself. She kept her body stiff, her jaw clenched. She donned her mental armor. "You?"

"Better." He looked down and shook his head slightly, as if he was ashamed. But then he brought his gaze back to her face. "Look, I'm sorry I ran out on you like that."

Whatever Lex had been expecting him to say, that was not it. It made her soften a little and it irritated her. "How should you have run out, then?"

Reece ignored her sarcasm. "I want you to understand that it had nothing to do with you."

"Ah, the 'it's-not-you-it's-me' speech. I get it."

"No, you don't." Reece moved closer now and Alexandra cringed inwardly. But the witch only came next to her and leaned his back against the wall so that they stood side by side without looking at each other. "It's hard to explain."

"Then don't," Lex replied dully. She didn't want to know why he'd run out of here, leaving her lying in a ball on the bed like a discarded piece of dirty clothing. "I don't care."

Reece pressed on. "What I saw in your mind—"

"I don't care!"

"— it made me want to kill the one who did it."

"_Stop it!_" Lex hissed. She fisted her hands, brought them up to her cover her face as if she were protecting herself from a blow. "You didn't see anything. You don't know anything. Just leave me alone!"

The witch turned towards her and waited for her to lower her fists. "I can't, Lex," he said softly. "We're soulmates. There won't be an 'alone' for either of us any more, at least not in this lifetime."

_Soulmates_. Alexandra had heard the term before, but the Night World generally disregarded it in disgust. As soon as Reece said it, however, Lex knew that that was the only word to describe the force that had pushed them into each other's minds when he'd kissed her. It was the cord that was keeping her tethered to Reece when she only wanted to drift away from this world.

"I don't want this," she whispered. "I can't have anyone inside my mind again. I can't. I'd rather die."

"I'm not him, Lex."

"_Don't!_"

Alexandra turned away from him, but Reece took hold of her shoulders and pressed her back against the wall. It wasn't skin to skin contact, but the feel of his hands gripping her shoulders still made her pulse quicken. Reece stood in front of her, so close that their faces were mere inches apart. Their breath mingled.

"Look at me." The sharpness of his tone cut off any protest Lex might have made. She tipped her head back to look into the witch's eyes. "We need to get this straight right now. I didn't see much in your mind and I don't know all the details. But I know that you were hurt, so much so that it made me crazy. What happened earlier…I've never been angry like that. It's not who I am and it scared the hell out of me. I don't kill for fun, I don't torture, and I don't hate."

"You hate me," Lex snapped back at him. "I saw the look in your eyes in the alley after I killed your witch. You hated me and you would've gladly staked me then. Why don't you do us both a favor and do it now."

"I didn't hate you." Reece paused, trying to remember. "I felt grief for Genevieve. Guilt. She was _my_ responsibility and I let her die. Not only that, but she was a Wild Power. Without her the Night World will have the earth overrun, and it'll be my fault. And for some reason I felt…disappointed in you. Maybe that's not the right word. I didn't know you, but I didn't want to believe that you killed Gen."

"I did," she assured him.

Reece let go of one of her shoulders and lightly ran the back of his knuckles down her cheek and looked deeply into her eyes, as if he were searching for something. Lex gasped audibly. She didn't know if she wanted to slap his hand away or press her cheek into his palm. She remembered the feel of his lips on hers and found herself aching for it again. God, this was too much.

The witch gave her a tight smile. "Gen made you do it. She drew you in when you were dying, let you drink from her. You tried to pull away and she wouldn't let you."

He'd used the soulmate link against her. "Get the _fuck_ out of my head!"

"I'm not him," Reece quietly raged back at her. "I've seen your soul, yes, but you've seen mine too. You have to know that I'm not like him. I won't hurt you that way."

"Promises, promises," Alexandra whispered. Her throat tightened and she knew that she wanted to believe him, just as she had wanted to believe Tristan. She was such a fool.

With a sigh, Reece released her and sat down on the bed tiredly. Lex leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. The tense energy that had been building between them suddenly dissipated, leaving them both drained.

"Tristan used to tell me that," she said in a hushed voice. "He wouldn't hurt me, he wouldn't use me. He just wanted my trust."

"He was your lover?" Reece asked.

Alexandra smiled slightly at the jealousy she heard in the witch's voice. "No, I wouldn't say that. We lived together, traveled together, slept together. He was my friend and of course we had sex. He might have loved me, I don't know. Tristan learned early on not to tell me things like that."

Lex remembered that first terrible fight, just five months after he'd found her. They had just finished having sex when Alexandra tried to pull away from him, but Tristan held her fast. He drew her down to his chest and she heard the quiver in his warm breath against her ear. Lex remained perfectly still in his embrace, but then Tristan pulled back to look at her face. She could see his affection for her shining in his eyes and in the wondering smile he gave her. She flushed and she felt her heart flutter in her chest. For a single instant Lex felt the rush of delicious anticipation. She wanted this. But then her fear, doubts, and self-hatred rapidly overwhelmed her. Tristan opened his mouth to say something and Alexandra harshly shoved him away. "Get the hell off of me," she snapped.

Alexandra would never forget the wounded look on Tristan's face, nor the anger that replaced it when she wouldn't speak to him, not even to tell him what he had done wrong. Lex fortified her walls against Tristan's pleas and curses. When he finally gave up on trying to reach her, silence fell between them.

Days went by before he spoke to her again, before she responded to him. He asked her if she wanted to watch a movie and she said yes. They stayed together as if nothing had happened, but Lex held herself apart from him more vigilantly. She was sure that the instant of exhilaration she'd felt could have killed her.

"How long were you together?" Reece asked her now, rousing her out of her memories.

"Three years."

"That's a pretty long time. You didn't trust him after—"

"Twenty-seven years, eight months, three weeks, two days," Lex interjected. She looked at Reece belligerently. "That's how long I was…"

God, why was she telling him all of this? She meant to stop talking, to steel herself to his questions the way she had always done with Tristan, but somehow the words fell from her lips anyway.

"Who was he?" Reece asked. There was a darkness in his voice and Alexandra knew that she was responsible for it. It was on her behalf. She had contaminated him already.

Lex closed her eyes again and slid down to the floor. "I can't do this," she whispered.

Reece got off the bed and sat down next to her. "You've never told anyone, have you?"

"No. But Angie knows…she has a power."

"I know." At Lex's curious look, Reece shrugged. "Daybreak does good recon."

She should tell him now, Alexandra knew. She should tell him that she had power like Angie's and it had been given to her by her Maker. She should tell him that no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, the power still took control of her at times. It used to be only when she hunted, but now it was starting to gain strength and momentum. She could be lost before long, she would become _Him_ eventually. But those words wouldn't come. No, not yet. She couldn't bare to see that disgust in his face right now.

"She, uh, she ripped it from my mind," Alexandra told him instead, "and she taunted me with it." Angie's words still haunted her…_You could have all of this if you only had the focus, the will. Every moment for you could be like the kill. But you don't want the will…do you, Luscious? You fear it. You fear your maker._

"I won't do that." The sincerity in Reece's voice touched her. She could almost believe it. Or at least believe that he believed it.

"I don't want you to know," Lex confessed. "I want to forget it."

"I can understand that. Life is hard. It would be nice to forget all of the bad times, the horrible things we go through. But you can't. It's part of who you are."

"I don't want to be me any more. I hate me."

The witch looked at her curiously. "You think I'll hate you too, if I knew?"

Lex bit her lip and nodded.

Reece smiled ruefully. "We're both taking risks here, you know. Not just you. I don't know what you saw or what you felt when I kissed you. There are things that I've done that I'm not proud of. And maybe you won't like the things that I _am_ proud of. I work for Circle Daybreak, which fights for a cause that you might despise. You might look at me and find who I am, what I do repulsive. I don't know. It's just that fate put us together and I'd like to know why. I want to know you, Lex. I want to see where this leads us."

Alexandra was quiet. He made it sound so easy, but she knew that it wasn't. Still, she'd never been this tempted. "You're not a Creed fan, are you?" she finally asked him.

Reece looked perplexed. "No."

"Good. That would have been a deal breaker."

The witch smiled at her and it made her breath catch. He was gorgeous and she was the cause of that luminescent smile. Reece seemed to understand that she wasn't promising anything now, but she wasn't refusing him either.

Alexandra took an uneasy breath and looked into the witch's eyes. "Please tell me the truth. What is going to happen to me?"

Something about her question made his face contort and then Reece roughly drew her into his arms. "Nothing. I'm going to keep you safe, Alexandra. I swear it."

Lex sighed and closed her eyes, turned her face into the curve of his arm. She believed him and was ashamed of herself for it. But then in the warm shelter of his body, she gradually relaxed. The soulmate link hummed around them and lulled Alexandra into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Aiden St. Helen couldn't remember the last time he had slept. A sort ofhyperkinetic energy kept his thoughts racing ahead and circling back again. It made him short of breath even though he was doing nothing more than lying on the cement floor of his cell. He was thinking of what he would say to Eve once he found her, thousands of different scenarios assailing him at once. Yelling, crying, smiling. Retort after retort. He pictured the sting of her slap, the salt of her tears, the taste of her lips. The only constants in his incessant imaginings were her voice, her touch, her skin.

He was thinking of the past, of things that he had ignored and dismissed as insignificant. So much of his life had depended on lies: lies he told Eve, lies he told Angie, and most of all the lies he told himself. But now that he had nothing left, he saw things differently. Eve needed to know, she would understand. So much to say, he couldn't contain it all. He was desperate.

Patience.

_Dream some more…_

"Aiden?" she'd asked him.

"Yes?"

"Do you love me? Tell me honestly."

"Of course." It was a lie. Aiden hadn't felt anything then. He was nothing but cold and composed. Driven.

"I need to hear you say it," she'd said timidly. She didn't want to sound so needy. "You never say it."

Aiden hesitated. Her shining blond hair fell over his forearm. It tickled. They were lounging on her bed, as always, facing each other. What could he say? He looked into the deep violet of her eyes. "I love you, Eve."

His eyes had stung. He'd felt suddenly sick and didn't know why. Eve pulled his head down to her chest, cradling him like a child.

_Dream…_

He'd taken the stairs down to the lobby. He didn't like the humans who lived in Angie's building, didn't want to share the elevator with them.

The loud click of shoes against the tile drew his attention.

Her hair was the first thing Aiden had noticed. Glossy black spirals. The kind of curls you tug on just to see them spring back. So much of it, flung about as she paced.

Young, teenage vampire. But she had alluring curves and sinful lips. Her teeth dug into her lips, drew blood. What was she doing here?

He had stopped to watch her, amused and intrigued. But then he saw her eyes and almost took a step back. Blue, so blue. Eyes that had seen too much. Such weariness. Pain. Fear. Haunted, those eyes. It had given Aiden chills.

The girl hadn't looked at him, hadn't seen him watching her. He was inexplicably relieved. Aiden didn't want her to turn those blue, fearful eyes on him. He kept his gaze on the floor as he hurried out of Angie's building, hoping he'd never see her again.

_Dream…_

"You seem distant tonight," she'd said. "Is anything wrong?"

Aiden had shaken his head. Nothing he could tell her. Angie was getting tired of waiting. She wanted it done. Time was running out.

"Hey, come here," she'd whispered. She pulled him down to her bed, rested his head in her lap, stroked his hair. She hummed something softly.

But she wasn't soothing him. The scent of her skin was driving him mad. He had to touch her. Need burned through him. He lifted his head and pulled her shirt off. She gasped and he pushed her back down on the bed. He kissed her, his mouth opening over hers. She met his passion kiss for kiss, touch for touch. Escalating, it became a heated frenzy, tearing off clothing, caressing, licking. Aiden had never thought that she could be like this. Everything they had done before had been gentle and slow, but this was primal. Visceral. When they were both undressed and panting, he stopped and looked into her eyes. This was a pivotal moment for her. She nodded fervently. He squeezed his eyes shut and took her fiercely, claimed her as his. He didn't know if her cries were from pleasure or pain and he didn't care. He didn't open his eyes.

_Dream…_

Violet. Love.

Aiden had walked listlessly in the pouring rain. His tears were being washed away, he didn't feel them any more. Where was he going? He didn't know. He had nowhere. He had fucked up everything, betrayed everyone. He should go back…could he go back? _No_. He would never go back. He needed to be free of her. He wanted her dead, but he just couldn't do it. What the hell should he do?

He could feel her breath on his face, the last breath she'd taken before he'd gotten his hands around her throat. He'd seen the understanding come into her eyes, her hands frantically and futilely trying to push him away. But then there was acceptance, forgiveness. Love.

No, no. Don't love me. I hate you.

Aiden had growled and cried out into the night. Humans stepped far away from him, cars honked. The rain fell. He stumbled and trudged his way back to Angie. He'd been going that way all along. Didn't know why he felt so lost, then. She would give him direction, she would make things right. He had the drive and she had plans. He would be free…he would be free from those violet eyes. Free from her love. Free from his own—

The locks on the cell door snapped open loudly and the sound brought Aiden back into the moment. He was still lying on the floor and his blood could no longer reach his hands that were shackled behind him; they were numb. He heard the footsteps as someone entered his cell and then saw Anton Parish towering over him. Aiden had been waiting for this.

Anton was scowling down at him. With his gray hair and glasses, Aiden thought that the lamia could pass for a librarian, one that was very pissed off at patrons for daring to talk above a whisper. Anton exuded pure contempt and if it had been anyone else standing over him, Aiden was sure he would have received more than a few sharp kicks to his side. But no, Anton was much too conservative to do something like that.

Strangely enough, Aiden knew that he was older than Anton. The other vampire only appeared older because he'd let his body age for fifty-five years while Aiden had stopped aging in his early twenties. Anton was actually in his sixties now, but Aiden was approaching ninety. Based on experience, Aiden really should have been the one running this sect of Circle Daybreak, but Thierry Descouedres had always preferred to leave stodgy moderates in charge. He would never have let a vampire with a nickname like "Hellraiser" lead any division of Daybreak.

"Aiden St. Helen," Anton said, crossing his arms sternly. "We've wanted to get our hands on you for days and tonight you just waltz in through the front door, giggling like a lunatic. Care to tell me why?"

Aiden didn't reply. He made his gaze steady, staring through the other vampire. He kept his eyes unfocused. Anton's figure above him blurred.

"You've caused a lot of mayhem here in the past week—you and your employer, Angie Catellini. Did she send you here?" When Aiden didn't reply, Anton crouched down next to him, careful not to let his expensive designer suit touch the dirty floor. "Answer me, Hellraiser."

Aiden fought to keep his expression bland at the mention of his nickname.

"Nothing to say?" Anton hissed in his ear. "Okay. Maybe I'll talk for a minute. I'm assuming that you know your soulmate is dead. You remember, the one you tried to kill a few nights ago. She never really recovered from that. Maybe now you're having a taste of what she felt. So tell me, how does it feel now that she's dead and gone? I've heard that it's like having a limb torn off or having your still-beating heart ripped out of your chest. How does it feel to know that your soulmate died hating you, Hellraiser? She was always too good for you. If it weren't for the soulmate principle Genevieve never would've looked at you. She never would have debased herself to touch you. Maybe it's good that she's dead now. She won't have to live knowing that something as disgusting as you is her soulmate."

The lamia was trying to get a rise out of him. Aiden knew it and willed himself to keep staring blankly through the ceiling. But Anton's words still penetrated because they were true. Aiden felt as if the other vampire was prodding at a raw nerve deep in his gut. It was a miracle that he was able to remain perfectly still and unresponsive.

"You betrayed us all," the lamia continued. "Did you enjoy stabbing your friends in the back? Those guards you killed outside of Genevieve's door…they each had children. Seth's wife is seven months pregnant with their fourth child. She has to raise all of those kids alone now."

Anton leaned closer and grabbed Aiden's chin, looking directly into his vacant eyes. "Was it worth it, Hellraiser? Take a look around, look at what you've been reduced to, and for what? Some sick, hateful conviction. Maybe you think that you've won because Genevieve is dead, but let me tell you something. We have another Wild Power. The Night World will never win."

Minutes passed and Anton still stared at the vampire lying on the floor, searching his face for a flicker of consciousness. Aiden didn't give in, not even when Anton blew forcefully into his eyes. He refused to blink.

The other vampire fisted the fabric of Aiden's shirt and pulled him to his feet. Aiden remained limp, like a ragdoll in Anton's grip and some stitches on his shirt ripped. The lamia bared his fangs. "I hope you're suffering, wherever you are," he growled.

Finally Anton released his hold on Aiden, letting him fall face first to the floor. "You're pathetic," Anton mumbled as he threw open the locks and left the cell.

The door slammed shut. Aiden exhaled silently in relief and let himself blink his painfully dry eyes. He'd done it. Now he just had to wait.


	14. Weaknesses

The sound of vague, muffled voices made Reece stir. One of them was angry, yelling. The other voice was short and biting. He tried to focus on the sounds, but he was so tired that they kept slipping away. He felt himself sink back down to sleep.

A loud bang startled him and Reece's eyes shot open.

It took a long moment for him to recognize his surroundings and remember what had happened. He found himself sitting cross-legged on the floor of Alexandra's cell, leaning against the wall. Lex was cradled in his arms, somehow still asleep even after the bang. The noise had been the locks opening, Reece realized, and was instantly on guard.

Light streamed in from the hallway, blinding him in the darkness of the cell. He squinted and focused on the person standing in the doorway.

Shit. Anton.

"Cahill," the vampire said with quiet anger, as if he were trying to reel in his temper. "Can I please have a word with you?"

Reece looked down at the vampire girl sleeping in his arms. She looked so beautiful now, her eyelashes a dark crescent on her pale cheeks and her lips slightly parted. She was warm and peaceful, and Reece didn't want to disturb her.

"Now, Cahill," Anton ordered impatiently.

The witch stretched his arm and grabbed the pillow off the nearby bed. He carefully lifted Lex up and slid out from under her weight, then lay her head back down on the pillow. He knew Anton was watching him with a glare, but Reece didn't care.

"I'll be back soon," he whispered to Lex, even though she couldn't hear him. Finally, he covered her with a blanket and followed the lamia out of the cell.

Carden was still out in the hallway, looking combative as always. But now there was another guard standing further down the hall. It was a shapeshifter, probably a wolf, and in contrast to Carden's languid demeanor, the wolf's posture was so still and rigid that he almost seemed to be an inanimate fixture. Daybreak must have brought in another hostile.

"If you would follow me to the conference room, please," Anton directed. "Carden, you will stay here and guard the girl."

The other vampire sneered and gave the lamia the finger as soon as Anton had turned his back.

There was a large conference room near the elevators. Anton opened the door for Reece, and gestured to a soft, leather chair by the end of the enormous table. The affluence of this compound still amazed the witch. His small operation in Canada was so poor that none of the members of his team could afford to work for Daybreak full-time. Reece ran the team out of his studio apartment, which was smaller in area than the table he was now sitting at.

Stifling a yawn, the witch stretched his neck back and forth. His body was kinked from having slept in an awkward position.

Anton remained standing and leaned forward onto the table. It was a pose meant to intimidate and Reece was certain that Anton had broken more than a few people with only his stance and his expression.

"What the hell are you doing, Cahill?" the vampire snapped. "I gave you a direct order to leave the sunlight spells in place. Not only did you remove them, putting this entire compound at risk, but now you're also fraternizing with the vampire who killed Genevieve. _And_ you left Carden guarding the cell after Thierry insisted that you be the one to guard the girl. I want an explanation. Now. And it had better be good."

Reece sighed and leaned back into his chair. "I told you on the phone, the spells were making her crazy, not sedating her. She was screaming. You didn't hear it; I did. There was no way we would ever be able to talk to her in that state. I believed that it would be more beneficial to Daybreak to remove the spells and try to interrogate her."

"You violated orders! She could have destroyed—"

"She didn't," the witch retorted. "I took a risk, yes, but it was the right thing to do. As it happens, she has no idea that she's a Wild Power. She knows nothing about it."

"She could have been lying," Anton insisted.

"She wasn't."

"How can you—"

"She's my soulmate, Anton. Alright? I know she wasn't lying." Reece felt uncomfortable then. He hadn't wanted to tell Anton that. It felt as if he were violating Lex's privacy by telling others about their connection, but right now he didn't have a choice. "Her name is Alexandra Harper. I don't know what her relationship is to Angie, but I know that Lex didn't mean to kill Genevieve. Gen forced her."

The vampire looked aghast, angrily pushing back from the table. "That's ridiculous! Gen would never do something like that. She knew how important she was."

"With all due respect, sir, you didn't see her much in the days after the attack. I did. She was…beyond despair. She confided in me that she wanted to die. And I saw what happened in Lex's mind."

"This is unbelievable," Anton whispered. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Then he sighed and seemed to calm down a degree. He looked back at Reece soberly. "She's really your soulmate?"

"Yes. I understand why you thought it was dangerous for the sunlight spells to be removed, but my instincts told me that she wasn't a threat. Even before I realized that she was my soulmate."

"That doesn't make your actions right."

"No," Reece agreed.

Anton pulled out a chair and sat down heavily. For the first time Reece realized how exhausted the vampire was. With his head resting in his hand, Anton looked like he was completely burned out. "I'll let it go for now," the vampire said. "Don't do anything like that again or I'll have you removed from this city."

Reece nodded. "Understood. Have you found out anything about there being a fifth Wild Power?"

"We have a team researching it. They're looking through old scrolls, prophecies, every shred of information on Wild Powers. There is absolutely no mention of a fifth one."

"So maybe it's more likely that Lex took the power from Gen somehow."

"That's the way I'm leaning. All the prophecies say that the power is in the blood and that vampire drained Gen to the point of death. If that's the case, this is the first weakness that a Wild Power has ever shown. Goddess, if the Night World ever hears about this, it would be disastrous."

"But still, once blood is drawn, the Wild Powers can use the blue fire to defend themselves. Gen wanted to die, she let it happen. The others won't."

"Maybe not, but picture this: they use a spell or weapon to knock the Wild Power unconscious, then slit a few veins and drain them dry. Then the power is in the hands of the Night World."

Reece imagined Alexandra unconscious and helpless, a vampire on top of her, biting her throat. Fury welled up inside him, hot and terrifying. He forced himself to clear his mind, take a few deep breaths. He would not lose it again. Slowly, he calmed down. "I hope it's not that easy," he murmured.

"That makes two of us."

Reece was quiet for a while as he thought. It didn't seem right that the Wild Powers could be so vulnerable. Anton was right; taking their blood could be easy as long as they weren't awake to use the blue fire. After all, drinking blood is what vampires were made to do. There had to be more to it. But he'd seen what had happened with Gen in Lex's mind. Maybe it was that simple after all. Maybe it was meant to be, so the balance of power could shift one way or the other.

"Look, we've got another situation you should know about," Anton said. "You saw the extra guard watching another prisoner down the hall. Well, the prisoner is Aiden St. Helen."

Reece was stunned.

The lamia continued explaining. "He just walked right into the compound a few hours ago as if nothing had happened. He was hysterical. I think Genevieve's death broke his sanity, not that he deserves any better. We brought him down here, locked him up, and now it's like he's catatonic. I saw him just before I got you and he was entirely unresponsive. I sent for someone to bring him a blood bag. Maybe that will snap him out of it. It would be great if we could question him about Angie."

"You've got to get him out of here," Reece suddenly burst out. He shot out of his chair and leaned towards Anton. "He knows that Lex is a Wild Power. He watched Gen die, saw the blue fire. He's here for Lex."

The vampire frowned. "Why didn't you tell me this when you brought the girl in?"

"I—I don't know," Reece replied lamely. "I was worried about her, my team. I didn't think of it."

Anton sighed. "Okay. Well it doesn't matter, Cahill. He's locked up with a guard at his door. And he's completely in a daze. He isn't a danger to Alexandra."

"Not a danger? How arrogant are you?" Reece knew that he shouldn't be talking to his superior this way, but he couldn't seem to help it. "All he had to do was walk in here and he got put in a cell less than a hundred feet away from her."

"He wouldn't have known where we were keeping her," Anton argued.

"Maybe not. But he walked in here for a reason and I'm pretty sure that it wasn't so that he could spend the rest of his days in a straight jacket, locked up twenty-five stories underground."

"He's not even conscious. I tested him."

"Sir, he deceived Circle Daybreak for years. How do you know he wasn't deceiving you just now?"

The vampire pressed his lips together and Reece was afraid that he had gone too far. "Alright," Anton conceded. "I'll put together a team to have him moved to the Baltimore office."

"Thank you, sir," Reece said. He didn't realize that he'd been holding his breath until he exhaled in relief. "I'm going to go check on Lex now. I'm not leaving her side again until Aiden is taken out of here."

"Cahill." The vampire called Reece back just before he reached the door. The witch turned back to Anton. "I understand that this girl is your soulmate. But don't let your guard down. The soulmate principle is no guarantee of honesty or loyalty."

"I'm aware of that," Reece replied shortly. He understood why Anton was warning him. After what happened to Genevieve, faith in the power of the soulmate principle had weakened. But he still felt a surge of resentment at the insinuation that Alexandra would betray him.

"Don't be offended," Anton said. "I just want you to be careful."

"Yes, sir."

It hit Reece as he was walking out of the conference room and the sensation was so foreign that he couldn't understand what was happening to him at first. It felt like there was something heavy on his chest, constricting his breathing. Bent over, Reece felt a scalding shiver pass through him. His lips burned, his throat burned. It felt like he was having a heart attack. He thrashed and almost fell to the floor before he realized that the pain assaulting him was not his own.

_Lex!_

* * *

Lying face down on the cold cement floor of his cell had at least one benefit: the flow of blood to his arms was no longer constricted and slowly Aiden was able to feel his hands again. He wanted to flex his fingers, but he didn't dare. The guard might be watching him.

He thought his performance had been rather good. Of course at this point, Aiden expected nothing less of himself. Since the day he'd met Eve, he'd managed to dupe everyone, including himself. He may be in maximum security, but with Anton believing that Aiden was relatively harmless, it would only be a matter of time before an opportunity presented itself.

It happened sooner than he'd expected. Anton, always a gracious host, hadn't wasted any time ordering room service for the new, crazy hostile. Aiden heard a voice in the hallway and a few seconds later his door opened.

"You should have someone come in with you to make sure that Hellraiser stays down," Aiden's guard advised the newcomer tersely. With the door open, Aiden could sense that the guard was a wolf shapeshifter, which he'd half-expected. Wolves often made the best guards. "He's done a lot of damage around here."

"Don't worry," the newcomer replied. He was talking to the guard from inside the cell. "Anton briefed me on the situation with St. Helen. He cleared this. I'm just going to see if he'll swallow some blood and leave some more blood bags for later." There was a pause as the new person, a human, came closer and leaned down beside Aiden. "He's still unconscious, I don't think he'll be a prob—"

Aiden swung his legs around and hit the back of the man's knees, forcing him to the ground. Vaulting over to him, Aiden slammed his heel into the human's skull, knocking him unconscious. Alerted by the noise, the wolf shifter rushed in from the hallway with his gun drawn.

"Don't move," the guard yelled, taking aim at Aiden. The shifter stayed in his human form as he held his gun securely in one hand while he reached for his cell phone with the other. He might have been better off shifting into a wolf and fighting the hostile himself, but Aiden knew that the guard was following protocol. The unfortunate problem with protocols was that carrying them out sometimes meant going against your instincts, which can make you more anxious and off-balance. As it happened, Aiden could tell that the guard was breathing too fast and there was a tremor in the shifter's dominant arm. He was too jumpy, ready to fire at the slightest sign of movement.

Aiden discreetly slipped his right foot underneath the human lying on the floor in front of him and in one explosive kick, launched the man towards the guard. As Aiden had predicted, the anxious shifter raised his gun and fired rapidly at the body being thrown at him, most likely killing the man in midair. But the violent kick gave the human too much momentum and the body still collided with the guard, knocking him down.

Aiden grabbed the guard's gun and slid it into the waistband of his pants. The shifter was still lying stunned on the floor, trapped beneath the weight of the dead human, when Aiden quickly gripped the wolf's chin and head.

"Word of advice," he told the guard casually. "Know when to say 'screw protocol.'"

Then he jerked the shifter's head to the side, snapping the spinal cord easily.

Aiden smiled broadly, baring his fangs. Ooh, how many people had he killed today? It had been too long. He'd forgotten what a high mass murder could be. He wished there was time to revel in it, but he had to find Eve.

Silently, Aiden crept towards the door to his cell, which was still wide open. He surreptitiously examined the hallway leading toward the elevators, and then looked back down the opposite way. It was all clear.

As he stepped out of the cell and there was a loud thud behind him. Before he could turn around he felt a burst of pain at the back of his head, thrusting him forward.

From the floor, Aiden looked up at his assailant, who must have dropped down from the ceiling. It was powerfully built vampire with a shaved head and a haughty smirk. Aiden didn't understand how this guy could have gotten the jump on him—the vampire seemed too heavy to move stealthily.

"I recognize you," the assailant said. He stood over Aiden in a fighter's stance. "You're Hellraiser."

Aiden inclined his head in acknowledgement. Then he shot his legs up and used the motion to get to his feet. He brought his fists up to his chin, ready to block a punch, and kept his weight on his back foot. "And you would be?"

The assailant smiled. "The vampire who will be killing you soon. But you can call me Carden."

"Ah," Aiden replied. "You're the one who took out Kendra Pollox."

"One and the same. Time for you to join her."

Carden threw a sudden snap kick that caught Aiden off guard, connecting brutally with his jaw. Before the other vampire could follow up the hit, Aiden ducked out and then came in low to land three body shots.

"Is that what you call a punch?" Carden laughed. "You're doing it all wrong. Let me show you."

The vampire threw a double jab and followed it with a hard right cross, then a high left hook. "Now _those_ are punches," he told Aiden.

Carden had dropped his fist, leaving himself open as he talked. Arrogant mistake. Aiden took advantage of it and rushed in with an uppercut that sent Carden staggering backwards.

"Thanks for the lesson," Aiden replied. He withdrew the gun from the back of his pants and cocked it. He aimed steadily at Carden's head. "As much fun as this is, I simply don't have the time to bother with this "Street Fighter" shit. So tell me now, where is Alexandra Harper?"

The vampire looked oddly startled. Did he honestly think that Aiden wouldn't know his own soulmate was here?

Frustration at the vampire's silence, Aiden fired the gun once at Carden's thigh. To his credit, the massive vampire didn't make a sound, even though the wood-tipped bullet must have hurt like hell.

"Tell me," Aiden ordered.

"Fuck you," the vampire hissed back, continuing with a colorful array of other expletives.

Sneering, Aiden shot at Carden's other leg, but the vampire just kept swearing. Damn it, Aiden didn't have time to torture the Daybreaker into talking. He'd have to find someone else to give him information. He pointed the gun back at the vampire's head and was about to fire when he caught a name and a face from Carden's thoughts.

Aiden smiled. Love made priceless leverage.

"Risa, is it?" he asked Carden softly, cocking his head to the side. "I believe I've heard the name before. Interesting. You don't want her dead, do you?"

The vampire lost the color in his face. "How—"

Aiden tapped his temple. "You should shield your weaknesses more carefully," he told Carden. "Now, how about we renegotiate? You have two options. If you tell me where the Wild Power is, I'll kill you mercifully, and I won't touch a hair on Risa's head. If you refuse me, I will break out of here, track Risa down, and find some rather creative things to do to her before I rip her heart out."

Aiden threw a mental picture of one particular act at Carden and it left the vampire near tears. "_Don't touch her!_"

"Whether I do or not depends on you. Make your choice."

Carden swallowed. He closed his eyes as he pointed to a door just down the hall. "There."

"Don't lie to me. Why would Eve be down here?"

"I'm not lying," Carden insisted. "We didn't know if she was working with Angie, if she was a threat." The vampire paused and he seemed confused. "Eve?"

Aiden almost laughed. Eve, a threat to Daybreak? His soulmate could never even fathom betraying her precious cause. Carden had to be lying again. But it couldn't hurt to make sure, not when he was going to kill the Daybreaker in a minute anyway. "Open the door, then," he ordered.

Carden hesitated.

"Open it or I'll be fucking Risa's entrails by tomorrow," Aiden hissed, shoving the barrel of the gun against Carden's head.

The other vampire quickly entered the code to unlock the cell.

"Thanks for your help," Aiden said congenially, and shot Carden in the chest. The Daybreaker fell heavily to the floor. Grabbing hold of his wrist, Aiden pulled Carden inside the open cell.

Shutting the door behind him, Aiden left the Daybreaker's body by the foot of a cot that took up a large portion of the cell. He stood still for a moment, winded.

Then he saw her, lying on the floor. She was sleeping soundly, covered by a thin blanket. Aiden couldn't move. He stared at her in breathless awe.

Her gorgeous curls spilled onto the pillow under her head and her flawless skin seemed to glow. She was so beautiful that he was continuously captivated by one feature and then another. Her long, thick eyelashes caught his attention, but then he couldn't stop gazing at her voluptuous lips. The delicate curve of her cheekbones fascinated him, but then her pale throat made his fangs lengthen painfully.

It was _her_. His soulmate, his One, his Eve.

All of the words Aiden had imagined saying to her fled from his memory. He had been foolish to believe that he could prepare himself for this. He'd tried to kill her and then watched idly as she died. Love and hate for her still warred inside him, dragging him one way and then the other. The whirlwind of memories and searing emotion was tearing him apart. And it was her fault. She had done this to him and then she'd run before she could be held accountable.

He watched her and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. What he wouldn't give just to feel one thing purely, to have one unadulterated emotion move him. There was nothing he wouldn't do to be himself again—the dispassionate, single-minded vampire that he'd been before Eve had touched him. Aiden found it strange that he was grieving for his own self. But he missed the cold and dead person he'd once been. The person he'd become in the past few days felt too much and it was intolerable. He didn't know where that left him. He didn't know how to live. Aiden St. Helen only knew how to be dead and he could never have that peace again.

To hell with it.

Slowly kneeling down next to his soulmate, Aiden resigned himself to madness.


	15. Decisions

A gentle tug on her hair roused her, but she kept her eyes closed. It had been too long since she'd last slept without being plagued by nightmares and she didn't want it to end. She hovered somewhere in the realm between sleep and wakefulness, floating as if on a wave. The tug came again and Alexandra shivered. Tristan knew that she hated being woken up like this, she was going to have to snap at him. She didn't like it, but Tristan never seemed to notice her protests until she was harsh with him. But then she felt fingers running through her hair, nails lightly scraping her scalp, and she heard herself moan softly. Oh, that felt too good.

Her eyes fluttered open and she tried to focus on the person crouching next to her. Not Tristan? Her brain was sluggish from sleep, so she didn't think much of it when she didn't recognize him at first.

Dark hair fell into his pale gray eyes and he made no move to push it away. He was staring at Lex heatedly and his fingers were still running through her hair. He was fine-boned, lanky, and his countenance seemed naturally somber. His thick, dark lashes contrasted with gray eyes so light that they appeared almost silver. He watched her take him in and smiled. The smile transformed him, made him seem younger somehow. His fingers drifted from her hair and Lex could feel his touch starting to descend to the back of her neck.

_Betrayal, hands around her throat..._

Recognition was a sudden, stinging slap of fear. Lex abruptly wrenched away from him until she felt the wall against her back. The bed was on her right, so she tried to crawl left to escape from him, but he followed her persistently. He placed his hands against the wall on either side of her so that she was trapped between his arms.

Aiden St. Helen looked wounded somehow, as if she had hurt him by pulling away. What the hell had he expected?

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Did you think I wouldn't come for you?" His voice was low and warm, like a purr.

Alexandra was at a loss. "Why— I don't—"

"You knew I was watching you, Eve. Did you honestly think that I wouldn't notice?"

"What are you talking about? I'm Alexandra. Remember? We met on the subway with Angie."

He frowned and seemed confused for a moment, but then he recovered. "Oh, I remember you from the subway," he said quietly as he leaned into Lex. He was gazing intently at her, and Alexandra felt a rush of heat course through her in spite of herself. "I remember your eyes, the way you looked at me."

A fresh wave of shame shook her and she glanced away, staring down at the buttons on his shirt. She'd almost forgotten how her power had risen, making her plunge into his soul. But now she remembered the way her heart had caught fire when his essence flooded her, the eerie familiarity of his pain. She felt compelled to use what she'd gleaned from him, to hurt and degrade him. It was what she'd been taught and the urge terrified her. She tried to battle it back.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean—"

"Don't apologize," Aiden said shortly. "I think we're beyond the point where either of us can apologize for what we've done to each other."

Puzzled, Alexandra lifted her gaze back up to him. "I don't understand."

"I know it's you, Eve. You can stop acting so obtuse now."

"_Alexandra_. My name is Alexandra."

Aiden scowled at her. "You're my soulmate, damn it. I can feel you. Stop lying to me."

Flashes from a stolen memory came to her. _Kisses falling like rain on her neck… him, only him, comfort and warmth…laughter, caresses, his lips on hers, soulmate... I love you, Aiden…_

"Genevieve," Lex whispered. "Genevieve is your soulmate, not me. She's dead." Alexandra didn't mention that she was responsible for his soulmate's death. His intensity was scaring her badly enough as it was.

Aiden looked at her strangely, with a vicious gleam in his eyes. "Fine, we'll play it this way," he said sharply. "I know that she's dead. I watched you kill her. But I know she's in you, Soul Stealer. I can feel her."

Oh god, he was insane, Alexandra realized. Genevieve's death made him crazy. She didn't know what to say to him. She was still caged by his arms and body, and there was no way she could fight him off. No, she was at the mercy of a deranged vampire who had tried to kill his own soulmate.

Reece had promised her that should be safe and she'd actually believed him. Lex supposed she deserved whatever Aiden was going to do to her because of her own sheer stupidity. She deserved it because, regardless of the protests she'd shouted at Reece and would soon throw at Aiden, she was so goddamn disgusting that part of her would enjoy being laid to waste. She remembered that when the pain stopped, the pleasure from the simple absence of pain was so acute that it had no equal. She deserved it because she wanted it, even as she didn't want it. She could lose herself in it, but when she crashed back into herself, she would still be the repulsive person she hated.

Christ, it had been three years since she'd felt this. Three long years of enduring this sickness, this need to self-destruct, by walling herself in and staying with someone who could never touch her, never make her feel this kind of desire. Tristan had saved her from herself and let her pretend for a while that she was something better. But he was dead now. No more pretences, no more lies.

Aiden leaned in closer to her and lowered his head. Alexandra could feel his warm breath on her neck, a whispering caress. "I feel you, angel," he murmured against her skin. It was starting, the prickles of desire and disgust. Lex sighed softly. "You are so beautiful," Aiden continued. "Ravishing. I've wanted to do this since the moment you looked into my eyes."

"Which one of us do you even want, Aiden?" she asked, oddly fascinated.

His soft laugh against her ear sent shivers down her spine. "I want you, Eve. You can try to run from body to body if you like, but I will always find you."

Alexandra almost hissed at his words, which echoed those of her Maker after she had tried to detach her mind from her body those first few nights. _"Don't try to escape. I will always find you."_

But she had escaped, hadn't she?

She brought her hands up and clenched the fabric of Aiden's shirt at his shoulders. In effect, she was pulling him closer.

Her Maker had left her for dead, but she was alive.

Aiden's hands slowly slid down the sides of her body, as if he were memorizing her figure. His touch teased her breasts before settling on her waist.

But her Maker still haunted her dreams. She still saw him in herself, in her power, her words, her impulses. He'd made her a vampire, but he'd also made her who she was. She could never escape that.

"I'm not her," Lex said in a dull voice. Aiden's grip on her waist tightened and she gasped. "She's dead. It's what you wanted. You tried to kill her. Are you forgetting that?"

Aiden pulled back to look at her face. His gray eyes had darkened, turning the color of slate. "I'm not forgetting anything," he said. "I did try to kill you. But you eviscerated me. I have nothing left because of you. If I had been able to kill you it would have been kinder than what you've done to me."

"I'm not her," Alexandra said again, more forcefully this time. "She's dead. I should know. I'm the one who killed her. I watched her die, Aiden."

"Mmm. You looked into her eyes, the way you did with me on the subway. You seized her soul, the way you did to me before I broke the connection. She let you kill her, she let you take her blue fire, and she let you take her soul. To get away from me."

Lex couldn't stand the way he talked about her power so openly. He knew more than she ever wanted anyone to know. "It doesn't work that way," she whispered.

"Really." It wasn't a question. He was taking it as a challenge.

There was a soft groan from the corner of the room and Aiden's head snapped away from her toward the source of the noise. Lex followed his gaze and saw a body lying on the floor. Hope soared inside of her. This person could help her, had to help her.

Save me from him. Save me from myself.

Lex took a deep breath to scream.

Aiden turned back and brutally clamped his hand over her mouth to silence her. It felt as if a current of fire suddenly flared between them, hot and consuming. Alexandra would have gasped, but Aiden's hand was pressed too tightly against her mouth. She tasted blood on her tongue and she felt as if she could barely get enough air. Aiden looked at her and shuddered. Then he closed his eyes and seemed to be feeding off the energy connecting them, as if it were a drug.

She heard Aiden's voice in her mind. _Yes. God yes._ He'd been dying for this, she realized. It was an insatiable craving that he was helpless to fight.

But Lex's mind fought fiercely against it. It felt so incredibly wrong to have this connection with Aiden. Her entire being cried out from the utter blasphemy of this after she'd already found Reece. _This is not mine. He is not mine!_

_Oh yes,_ he told her. _I am._

She sobbed soundlessly in his hold. It felt as if her soul was being raped—penetrated and used against her will. Aiden delved into her mind, her emotions. He didn't care about Genevieve now. He only cared about the rush of the connection and absorbing everything Alexandra was. The link she found with Reece was terrifying because of her past, but it hadn't left her feeling violated. This was what she feared more than anything. This was what she had spent three years running from.

And part of her reveled in it, as she knew it would. The darker parts of her soul that she despised exulted in this familiar defilement, at finally receiving the punishment she knew she deserved for crimes she could not define. Plunder my mind, ravage my body. Do what you will, I am nothing without this.

_No, no, no!_ she screamed telepathically, but she didn't know if she was screaming at Aiden or at herself. It didn't matter. She kept screaming. She was helpless and abused, she loved it and she wanted to die. Oh god, oh god. Make it stop.

_Make it stop!_

Something ignited inside of her; Lex felt the snap of something being set into motion. Suddenly the heat of the connection with Aiden was nothing compared to the energy that began to burn her from the inside out.

_Make it stop!_

The heat and desperation spiraled within her, higher and higher. She screamed against Aiden's hand and felt the scalding energy explode out of her. It thrust Aiden away from her, throwing him into the opposite wall of her cell. He fell to the floor, motionless.

Alexandra was trembling violently with silent sobs. She pulled her knees into her chest and hugged them tightly. She sniffed and shook, rocked back and forth uselessly.

"Lex!" she heard from the other side of the door. "Hang on!"

After a few seconds the door opened. Reece Cahill ran to her side and pulled her into his arms. She might have resisted, wanted to resist, but she couldn't bring herself to move. She couldn't stop shaking.

Reece rubbed her arms briskly, as if she were shivering from the cold. "It's all right," he whispered. His arms tightened around her and his chin rested on the top of her head. "It's over, it's all right."

Lame platitudes, but Lex didn't care.

She felt Reece turn his head. " Shit," he cursed. "Don't move, okay? I need to check on Carden."

Reece released her and went over to the person on the floor that she'd heard groan earlier. He struggled to turn the person over, but when he did, Alexandra saw the gunshot wound on the person's chest.

"Damn it, no," Reece snapped. He placed his hands over the wound and shut his eyes. Alexandra didn't know what the witch was doing, but it seemed to take all of his concentration. Reece was eerily still except for his deep, even breaths. After a few long moments, the person on the floor opened his eyes.

"Cahill?" he gasped.

"It's me." Reece smiled tightly. "Too stubborn to die, Carden?"

"Hell yes."

"Good. Hold on a few more minutes. I'll get more help."

Reece used his cell phone to ask that healers be sent down to the 25th floor immediately. There was a vampire down with three gunshot wounds, one of which was potentially fatal. Belatedly, the witch went over to examine Aiden St. Helen.

"Is he alive?" Lex asked in a small voice. "Is he okay?"

Reece glanced at her curiously, the turned his attention back to Aiden and his cell phone. "There's a second vampire down, unconscious. Probably a head trauma. It's a hostile, so come with backup."

"I didn't mean—" Lex started after Reece had finished his call. "I don't know how— I just wanted him to stop. Oh god, I am what you thought, aren't I? I'm a Wild Power." She didn't really understand what that meant, but the words shook her to her core.

Her witch left Aiden and came back to her. His arms were warm around her as he held her against his chest. "It's all right," he murmured again. "Everything will be all right."

* * *

Angie Catellini was in agony. She lay in an artificial darkness that was created by her heavy velvet drapes. Sunrise was still a few hours away, but it was never truly dark in the city. Streetlights, headlights, and lights from a multitude of apartment buildings spilled through her large windows, casting an unnatural, orange glow in her bedroom. Most nights it didn't bother her, but now her head hurt so badly that even the starlight was unbearable.

She was too tense, squeezing her eyes shut and cringing against the onslaught of voices, and it made the headache worse. But she couldn't help it. Although her apartment was silent, her walls and windows completely sound-proof, when her head hurt like this, the relentless noise in Angie's mind was excruciating. The only thought that she would soon have peace was the only thing that ever got her through this.

When she'd gotten back to her penthouse, Angie had called her only remaining mole in Circle Daybreak, now that Aiden had defected. He was usually useless because he was new to the organization and therefore wasn't privy to much information. But this time he did have some news for her. Anton Parish had told everyone that Genevieve Harman had been killed. The Daybreakers were so distressed that a riot nearly broke out before Anton revealed that another Wild Power had been found and she was, curiously enough, the very same vampire who had killed Genevieve. The new Wild Power was brought into the compound for protection and questioning.

Angie had stood in the living room of her penthouse with her cell phone pressed to her ear long after her infiltrator had hung up. Pure rage burned her in veins. Another Wild Power. Alexandra Harper. No relief, only this incessant buzzing forever. The anger was more than she could contain and in one moment, every glass object in her penthouse exploded, creating violent swarms of jagged shards that cut Angie's face and hands.

After that she phoned every Night World contact that she had, from low-level snitches to governors from other cities. She had even tried to reach Hunter Redfern, but hadn't been able to find a current number. No one knew anything.

And so Angie turned her attention to the source of the problem, Alexandra Harper. She opened herself completely to the din and searched for the voice of the fifth Wild Power.

It took longer than she'd expected. Angie had been able to find Alexandra's tortured mind fairly easily before, but something had changed in her, making her mind harder to recognize. Alexandra was sleeping when Angie found her, no dreams to speak of and no anxiety plaguing her. It was as if some of the pain that Angie had found so delicious had abated. Envy smothered Angie, made her sick.

She kept the connection open, letting her mind meld with Alexandra's. When the girl finally woke up, Angie saw Aiden through the vampire girl's eyes. In different circumstances Angie might have laughed hysterically over the madness that had taken Aiden St. Helen. He'd always been so cold. All work and no play. But now it seemed that he'd become a wreck, deluded enough to believe that Alexandra Harper was Genevieve. Oh yes, Angie wanted to laugh, but then she felt Aiden's hand clamp over Alexandra's mouth. The shocks that ran through the vampire girl's mind could be only one thing: the soulmate principle.

No, that wasn't possible. Genevieve was Aiden's soulmate. But there wasn't any mistaking the connection between Alexandra and Aiden. It was raw and it slammed their minds into each other, not caring if the force of it shattered either one of them.

Angie felt it as vividly as Alexandra did. God, Aiden all around her. Aiden sucking the life force out of her, giving her his own in return. It was so fucking good. But Alexandra was screaming. She fought it with everything she had. Damn Soul Stealer didn't know what a good thing she had. Angie had wanted to be this close to Aiden for years and while they had often screwed each other senseless, he hadn't felt a thing. Not long after he'd met Genevieve, the sex stopped completely. But damn, sex was _nothing_ compared to this. Angie soared while Alexandra thrashed.

But then she felt the energy welling up in the vampire girl and suddenly Angie felt the fire explode from Alexandra, severing the soulmate connection as it threw Aiden away from her.

No. It couldn't be.

Blue fire.

Wild Power.

Soul Stealer.

She'd stolen Genevieve's power. It was true.

Angie felt Alexandra's hands shaking and she let the vampire girl's mind go. She couldn't concentrate any more. She fell to her knees on the floor in front of her sofa and slivers of glass cut through her pants, slicing her knees.

She had allowed herself to hope. She'd tried to quash it until she knew for sure, especially when Aiden had sounded so strange, but Angie realized now that the hope had filled her heart despite her best intentions. It made this moment all the more devastating. After all of her work over the past year, Angie was back to where she had started and no more contingencies plans to fall back on.

Her head began to pound. She'd focused on Alexandra too hard for too long and Angie knew from experience that the headache was only going to get worse. There was nothing to be done about it. There was nothing to be done about any of it.

Fuck that. Fuck it all.

Angie's heart pounded as she desperately searched for her phone in the glass on the floor. She dialed number after number, gathering forces with threats and promises. The local Night World either feared her or lusted after her and Angie used both to her advantage. She threw money at the mercenaries and promotions to the ambitious. Within a few hours, Angie had built an army.

She was through screwing around. She'd tried being tactful and methodical. She'd tried distractions and blackmail. To hell with all of that. She was sick of waiting, sick of hoping and leaving herself open to defeat. She was sick of the fucking blaring endless maelstrom of voices in her head. It would end tomorrow, one way or another.

Angie lay in the softness of her bed now, feeling the agony of the headache overwhelm her. This was the last time. It wasn't hope that filled her now, but sheer determination. She would kill the Wild Power tomorrow or die trying.

Either way, she would have peace.

* * *

For a while, time ceased to mean anything to her. Healers came and took away the vampire Reece had called Carden. They took Aiden too, roughly lifting him up and dropping him on a stretcher. One of them grumbled about helping a guy who had now attacked two Wild Powers. Reece threw that witch a glare of warning and then no one said another word. Lex couldn't say if that had been minutes or hours ago.

The tremors had lessened a little, but they were still strong enough to make her teeth chatter. Someone gave her a mug of hot chocolate, but she didn't feel steady enough to drink it yet. She just held it tightly in her icy hands as she sat cross-legged on the lumpy cot.

The door of her cell was kept open now. Reece was just outside in the hallway, arguing with someone. He was having trouble keeping his impassioned voice quiet enough so that Alexandra couldn't hear what he was saying. She caught a few words here and there, enough to know that the argument was about her and how dangerous she was.

Finally he came back inside with an older looking vampire behind him. "Lex, this is Anton Parish," he said as he sat beside her on the cot. The other vampire remained standing. "He runs this compound. Anton, this is Alexandra Harper."

Lex just nodded to the older vampire and looked to Reece questioningly.

"He wants to ask you a few questions," he told her. "Apparently he doesn't trust my impartiality." Reece gave the lamia a contemptuous glance. "But once he sees that you're not a threat, I can move you to another room."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Cahill," Anton warned. Then the lamia looked down at Alexandra. She supposed his dark expression was meant to scare her, but Lex had seen much worse. "Do you work for Angie Catellini?"

Damn it, more questions. She was sick of answering questions. Tristan hadn't even thrown this many at her in one day. But if telling the lamia what he wanted to know would get her out of this cell, she thought it might be worth it. Aiden had assaulted her here and she desperately wanted to get away from that memory. She didn't think she could bear to stay here another minute.

"Not officially," she finally replied softly. In the corner of her eye she saw Reece wince. The lamia towering over her looked somewhat pleased with himself. "I told Reece already. Tristan and I haven't been here very long. We met with Angie when we decided to stay, just to get her approval. Then we didn't see her until this morning, or yesterday morning. I don't even know what day it is any more. She had Aiden with her, but he didn't say much. She told us that we had to kill a Daybreak witch, Genevieve Harman, or she would kill us. It was a one time deal."

"Did she mention anything at all about Gen being a Wild Power?"

"No. She just said that the witch had information about her business and that it would be easier for Tristan and me to get close to her because we weren't involved in Angie's operations."

"So she wanted you to kill a Wild Power and didn't tell you anything about Gen's powers? I find that hard to believe."

Reece interjected vehemently. "I also find it hard to believe that Angie would order two outsiders to do something that important, Anton. Think about it."

Alexandra shrugged. "I didn't know anything about it. She showed up after I had followed Reece and Genevieve, which I thought was strange. I think she was just using us as a distraction."

"But you did kill Genevieve Harman," the lamia insisted.

"Yes," Lex admitted. "I tried to do what Angie said, but I, um…I don't really know how to fight. Someone staked me, stabbed me in the stomach."

"Nigel," Reece supplied. "He fought Lex while Gen ran away."

"I don't know who he was. Things got hazy, I don't remember much after that until I saw the witch." Alexandra explained what had happened with Genevieve, how she killed her. But she didn't talk about what she did to the witch while she was dying, how she kissed Genevieve and fell into her mind. What had happened between Lex and the witch seemed too…intimate to discuss like this.

"Why did you use the blue fire on Reece's team?" Anton asked. "How did you know how to use it?"

"I don't remember doing it. I don't know how it happened. One minute I was looking at Reece and people were charging me with stakes…the next minute I woke up here."

Anton looked at her skeptically. "And what about just now, with Aiden?"

Alexandra couldn't answer. She was ashamed of what had happened with Aiden and she had no words for it. She didn't know how to explain any of it. "He was hurting me," she finally said. Her voice was too soft and she thought it made her weaknesses too obvious. Lex sat up straight and tried to strengthen her tone. "And I wanted him to stop, I couldn't make him stop. And, I don't know, I felt like I was burning up inside and then this energy poured out of me and hit him."

"Do you realize that what you did put thousands of people at risk? You could have destroyed this entire compound with that blue fire."

Lex's eyes widened. "No, I didn't know. I didn't _do_ anything. I just wanted Aiden off of me."

"Are you hurt at all?" he asked her carefully. Lex didn't know where that question came from. Anton hadn't given her any evidence to believe that he cared if she was in pain. "Physically hurt?"

"Not really," she replied. "I bit the inside of my lip pretty hard when he slapped his hand over my mouth. But it stopped bleeding a while ago."

The lamia paused, as if he'd run out of questions to ask her. Lex hoped that he had. She wanted to get out of here. Anton and Reece looked at each other for a long moment, communicating silently. Then the lamia nodded. "Do you know that there's a war coming?" he asked her urgently.

"I heard bits and pieces about it, but Tristan and I didn't really pay much attention. We kept to ourselves."

"That's not an option any more. You have Genevieve's power and you have to take a stand, one way or the other," Anton told her. "We need to know now what side you'll be fighting for. Circle Daybreak would protect you until you're needed for the war. The Wild Powers will play a pivotal role in preventing the annihilation of the world as we know it. It won't be easy or glamorous. The Night World would most likely kill you or figure out how to take the power from you to use against the world. It's your choice."

"Well, let me think," Alexandra replied, her words dripping with sarcasm. She sighed dramatically. "I can work with Daybreak and stay alive, or I can leave here and get slaughtered by Angie or some other person in the Night World who is trying to get ahead. I might need a little bit of time to think, that's a pretty difficult decision."

Anton glared at her. "Don't take this lightly, girl," he warned her gravely. "Daybreak has already been betrayed by one of our best people. If you give us any reason to doubt your loyalties, you will come to regret it. I promise you that."

Alexandra was too tired to be intimidated by him. She returned his stare passively. "Will you keep me alive or not?" she asked Anton impatiently.

The lamia's lip curled. "Yes," he snapped.

Lex gave him a bright smile. "Then I'm with you."

Anton nodded once and made some offhand gesture. "She's all yours, Cahill," he said curtly on his way out of the cell. The message was clear: Reece was going to be held responsible for more than her safety; if Alexandra betrayed Daybreak in any way, Reece was going to have to answer for that as well.

Reece exhaled slowly. "That went well," he said under his breath. Then he looked at Lex and stood up tiredly. "Let's get out of here."


	16. Faith

Reece walked into the infirmary with Alexandra at his side. She hadn't wanted to come with him, but Reece wasn't about to leave her alone again. She followed him silently and he wished he knew what she was thinking. It would be easy to touch her and find out, but he wouldn't. She'd been through enough, she didn't need him prying into her thoughts now.

He was quiet too. Something about her demeanor with Anton had bothered him. He supposed it was her cavalier attitude about staying with Circle Daybreak. He was going to have to talk to her about that. Reece only hoped that she would be willing to do so.

Carden's room was cold, but the vampire had shoved his blanket towards the bottom of the bed. He was still wearing his blood-soaked clothes as he lay back on the hospital bed, flipping through the channels on the television in the corner of the room. He didn't say anything as Reece and Lex came in the room and Reece was actually worried about it. Carden should have thrown some sarcastic quip at him, but he kept his attention on the TV.

Reece pulled two chairs closer to the bed so that he and Lex could sit down. "Hey," he said to Carden. "How are you feeling?"

The vampire shrugged, but didn't turn towards Reece. He just kept changing the channel. "Been better. Getting shot hurts."

Reece frowned. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"Yeah."

Carden's taciturn answers were really starting to alarm Reece. "It took guts, taking three bullets to protect Lex."

"Right. Surprisingly, it's not hard getting shot. You just stand there."

"Well, Daybreak really owes you—"

"I'm getting thrown out of here," Carden interrupted. He finally settled a movie on Comedy Central and dropped the remote control on the table next to the bed. "As soon as the healers are sure that I'm okay, Daybreak wants me gone."

"What? Why?"

"I let Aiden in," Carden said shortly. "He threatened to kill me, so I let him in. Bastard tried to kill me anyway, but I would've done the same thing. Anton went on a tirade about how I failed Daybreak, valuing my life over that of a Wild Power. He thought that it would be best if I left."

Alexandra had been staring at the floor in front of her chair listlessly, but suddenly her attention locked onto Carden. "You opened the door for Aiden?" she asked him quietly. "You let him into the cell?"

Carden's voice was hoarse. "Yes."

Lex lunged at the vampire in the bed. She pummeled his chest with her fists and he winced. She was punching the gunshot wound that was mostly healed, but still sore. "You bastard!" she cried. "You fucking bastard!"

Carden didn't make a move to stop her, so Reece grabbed Lex around the waist and dragged her off of the vampire. She tried to throw herself at Carden again, but Reece grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to face him. "Stop!" he shouted. "Lex, stop."

Alexandra looked at him, her blue eyes blazing with anger. She was breathing hard, but at least she was listening. "Please," Reece said. "I need to talk to him. Can you please calm down?"

She didn't answer, but after a moment she sat back down in her chair forcefully.

Reece turned back to Carden. The vampire was letting Daybreak kick him out and he'd let Alexandra hurt him without uttering a word. There was something really wrong with him. "Why did Aiden shoot you three times?" Reece demanded.

"He was trying to torture me into telling him where the Wild Power was," the vampire replied dully. "Shot me in the legs."

"You refused."

"Yes. Until he pointed the gun at my head and threatened to kill me." Carden shrugged again. "I didn't feel like dying just then. So I let Aiden into her cell."

"That's bullshit," Reece snapped.

Carden slowly turned towards him. "It's the truth."

"I haven't worked with you long, but it's been long enough to learn a few things. You're an asshole. You're obnoxious. You piss off everyone around you just for the fun of it. But you're good. I wouldn't have left Alexandra with you if I didn't know that I could trust you."

"I guess you shouldn't have."

Reece wanted to shake the vampire. The person lying in the hospital bed was not the same person that he'd been just a few hours ago. "What the hell happened, Carden? I know that you wouldn't give up a Wild Power to save yourself. Especially since you knew Aiden was going to kill you anyway."

"I didn't."

"You said it yourself. It's what you would've done."

Carden was silent and turned back to the Comedy Central movie. Reece had the distinct impression that he'd just been dismissed. He shook his head sadly. "I know you did what you could," he said. "I think you're an ass for rolling over and dying like this. If you ever want to tell me the truth, I'll listen."

The vampire still didn't say anything, but Reece saw that Carden was holding his breath. The room was perfectly still for a moment and Reece thought that he might have gotten through to the vampire. But then Carden exhaled slowly without a word and Reece knew it was useless to try any more. "Good luck, wherever you end up," he told Carden.

He motioned to Alexandra to leave and she gave Carden one last glare on her way out of his room. Reece followed her without a backward glance.

* * *

Reece's room was very posh. For all the money that Tristan had thrown down on hotels, she'd still never been in a room this large or luxurious. There was a sitting area near the door to the room with soft, overstuffed couches. Towards the back of the room was a full kitchenette with more counter space than most houses had. The fridge was probably stocked with food, herbs, and blood. There was a darkened corner towards the back of the room that was filled by a king-sized bed covered with a down comforter.

She sat down on the loveseat that was in the sitting area and moaned at how good it felt to sink into the cushion. She closed her eyes and drank in the quiet.

When she opened her eyes, she found Reece watching her with a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "What?" Lex asked self-consciously.

The witch shook his head. "Nothing. It's just nice to see someone enjoying the luxury."

"You don't?"

"Not particularly." Reece sat on the coffee table in front of the loveseat and took off his boots. She couldn't help but notice how close his knees were to hers. "I'm too far from the Elements in this place. I feel really cut off from the world."

Lex gave a short laugh. "At least you're cut off from the world in a place with heat and suede furniture."

"True," Reece said after a long pause. "Do you need anything? Food? Blood?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You're kind of pale."

"Very few vampires sunbathe," she said dryly.

"Very few avoid feeding when they obviously need it."

Alexandra sighed in annoyance. "I'm guessing you got that from the soulmate link."

Reece arched a brow. "All I have to do is look at you, Lex. You're too thin, you're too pale. You have to start taking better care of yourself."

"Right. The Wild Power needs to keep up her strength if she wants to fight evil."

The witch looked at her, his mouth hard and green eyes dark. "That's not funny," he said gravely. "There are thousands, millions of lives at stake in this war, not just your own. Do you even care? Or do you just want to stay alive?"

The question stung and Alexandra didn't understand why. "Does it matter?"

"It matters to me. I've worked hard for this my entire life. I've seen friends die for Daybreak. The girl that your— Tristan shot was my closest friend. She sacrificed herself for the mission. So it bothers me to see you take it so nonchalantly. It's like a slap in the face that all you care about is yourself."

Lex felt hot tears burning in her eyes. Her throat constricted and she had to pause to swallow hard before she could speak. "I'm going to get some rest," she whispered, not trusting her voice to stay steady. She got up brusquely and started over to the longer matching couch on the opposite side of the coffee table.

Reece grabbed her wrist to stop her. "Take the bed. I'll take the couch."

Alexandra snorted bitterly. "That's not necessary. I'll sleep on the couch. I've had a lot worse. Now get the fuck off of me."

She tried to pull her arm back from Reece, but he didn't let her go. "Do you always run away when someone asks you or tells you something important?"

"Yes," she snapped. "You should have learned that by now, witch. Give me back my hand."

"No," he replied quietly.

Reece held her fast as she struggled to wrench out of his grasp. As a vampire, she should be stronger than a witch, but she was exhausted and weak. Reece had been right: she did need blood. Lex tried to hit him with her other hand, but then he grabbed hold of that wrist as well. Her pulse raced and her mouth went dry as she gazed down into his eyes.

"Don't look at me like that," Reece said calmly. "You know I'm not going to hurt you."

"You _are_ hurting me," she cried at him, untruthfully. He grip was tight, but he was only restraining her. If she stopped struggling, it wouldn't hurt at all. It pissed her off all the more. "What the fuck do you want from me?"

"You have other options, you know. Anton was just trying to be persuasive. There probably are people in the Night World who would keep you alive if you worked for them. You don't have to stay here if you don't want to."

"Do you not want me here?" she retorted.

"That's not the issue. I want to know what you want."

"I don't know," she spat honestly. "I've never been involved in some big cause. I spent twenty-seven years as a slave and then another three trying to forget the first twenty-seven. I've really only existed as a way to waste time before I die."

Reece let go of her wrists and slid over on the coffee table, beckoning her to sit next to him. Reluctantly, she did. It reminded her of the last time they'd talked alone, leaning against the wall of her cell side by side. He seemed to know that it was easier for her to talk if she didn't have to look at him. It was more like she was talking to herself.

"What about when you were human?"

"It seems so long ago now…" Alexandra took a slow, deep breath. "He took me when I was almost fourteen."

"Who was he?"

Reece had asked that before, but somehow she felt ready to talk about it now. She had kept the past locked inside her for three years and she was realizing now that it hadn't made anything easier. Reece was right; the past was part of who she was. And after what she'd been through with Aiden, Lex didn't feel strong enough to carry the weight of her secrets by herself any more.

"The one who made me. I never knew his real name."

"Why did he do it?" Reece asked, though she was sure that he already knew the answer after the things he'd seen in her mind.

"Pedophiles and sociopaths aren't unique to the human world. He took me and made me into a vampire so that he would always have a young body for his gratification. And being so small, I would never have the physical strength to fight him. He— he used me for over twenty-seven years. He passed me off to his friends and associates for their entertainment, sometimes for days or weeks at a time."

In her peripheral vision, she saw Reece bow his head. "Goddess, I—"

"That wasn't the worst of it," she interrupted him. Suddenly she couldn't stop talking. It was all coming out and there was nothing she could do about it. "He has the power to see into your mind, conscious and unconscious, like Angie. He stole more than just my surface thoughts. He knew everything about me. Every emotion, every psychological button. It was a game. He fed off my reactions as much as he fed off my blood, my body. He wouldn't let me block him out; he would wrap his mind around me and make me feel what he was doing to me. And I could feel what he felt while he was doing it, because he passed the power on to me when he made me. He didn't realize that for a few years, but when he did, he had an entirely new game. He would make me do things to other people, mostly humans. Torture them. He would feed off the human's suffering and my guilt and hate. He was addicted to it.

"And…after a while, I was sort of addicted to it as well. I stopped trying to fight him and that made me hate myself even more. I felt like I deserved the things that he did to me because I didn't have the strength to fight, because of what I did to other people for him. I became dependent on it and it started to feel good. When I was in pain, it was right because I deserved it. When the pain stopped, the quiet afterward was like ecstasy. I needed it to feel something other than sick and hopeless. But it never lasted long and then I needed it again. So I provoked him. I came up with ideas of things he could do to me, that I could do to humans. He took my soul bit by bit until I was completely his."

She was breathing too fast and she couldn't bear to glance at Reece. "Then it wasn't as much fun for him any more. He had broken me, so I was damn near useless to him. One night he brought another girl home with him. She was a little younger than I'd been when he took me. She was sobbing from fear, still thinking about how to escape. Wishing her family would come and rescue her. I remembered that I'd once been like her and I realized how far gone I was. It hurt so much, which was what he'd wanted. Just one last rise out of me before he was done with me.

"He locked me in his room and poured kerosene all over the house. Then he came to me and threw a lighted match down. I covered my eyes because the fire was so bright. I tried to step back, but the flames were everywhere. Then he attacked me, drank from me until there was almost nothing left. He dropped me, spat on me, and ran through the flames to get out. He left me to die in the fire."

Alexandra broke off. Now that the words had finally escaped from her, it left her feeling empty. The secrets had been the foundation of her existence and without them she suddenly felt adrift.

"How did you get out?" Reece asked her. Even though his voice was soft, it startled her.

"I didn't. I just…survived it, somehow. Tristan found me there in the ashes, a breath away from death, and he took care of me. I've been with him ever since. He was so safe. He wouldn't read my thoughts and he for a while he didn't ask any questions."

They sat together quietly for a while and it was comfortable. Lex felt as if Reece was trying to absorb her words and giving her a moment to calm down.

"I would say that I'm sorry," he finally said as he turned towards her on the coffee table, "but I think it would be ludicrous if I did. There's nothing that I can say. But thank you for telling me."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're really grateful," Lex said sarcastically. "You really wanted to know how sick and disgusting your soulmate is."

"Stop saying that about yourself. You're not disgusting, Lex. I don't hate you. What happened to you is not your fault. Don't you know that?"

Tears welled up in her eyes and she couldn't stop them from spilling onto her cheeks. She felt so sick inside. "It is my fault. I liked it. I begged for it. This is what you're stuck with for all eternity. Why are you still here?"

"He did it to you," Reece said firmly. "It's his fault. Not yours."

"I should have fought him," Lex whispered, stifling a sob. "I should have fought harder, at least died trying to stop him. I gave in."

"That doesn't matter. It's over and done with. You're here with me and you have the chance to fight for something good now. You can help stop the Night World from destroying the human world. I told you before, you do have options. It's your choice."

Alexandra thought about her Maker. She remembered the pain of his fangs in her throat and the pain of his body tearing into hers. She thought about the expressions on the faces of all the humans that she'd tortured and killed for her Maker, for herself. She thought about Angie and the taunts and threats she made. She thought about Aiden, who had crumbled from the simple love of his soulmate, the darkness in him shaken by a single touch. This was the Night World.

She thought about justice that she'd never witnessed and peace that she'd never felt. Power she'd never had.

She thought about Reece, who was still here with her now that he knew the sordid details of her past. How could he have so much faith? The idea of having that much faith in anyone terrified her. It made you too vulnerable, too open to betrayal and disappointment. But then Reece hardly seemed vulnerable. He was strong, caring, and capable. What did that mean?

Alexandra struggled to find faith in him and perhaps more importantly, faith in herself. She tried to find a shred of hope that she could forgive herself for the past and let it go. She searched for the belief that, no matter what life threw at her, she would be strong enough to get through it. She tried to imagine letting go of the desire to self-destruct and tried to envision being happy.

It was huge and terrifying. It was a world she could hardly fathom. But for a fraction of a second, Alexandra grasped a solid picture of it and her heart soared. If she could imagine it, even for such a short time, maybe she could make it happen.

Hesitantly, she reached for Reece's hand. She tried to project her thoughts to him and he smiled.

"I'm with you," she said, sure this time that it was for the right reasons.

Reece grazed her cheek with the back of his knuckles and then pulled her closer to him. He kissed her, his lips soft on hers. It was different this time. Before, he'd been so tentative, waiting for her response. Now Lex immediately felt his urgency, felt him coaxing her mouth open under his. She moaned and he kissed her harder, his fingers sliding into her hair, drawing her even closer.

Lex felt his mind around her and tried desperately not to panic. She concentrated on the heat of his mouth, his cool fingers in her hair, and she very slowly she relaxed. The fact that she _could_ relax was amazing to her, especially after what had happened with Aiden. But she knew now more than ever that the connection with Aiden was wrong. It wasn't meant to be. This, what she felt with Reece, was created by fate. They'd been made for each other.

She carefully let herself step into his mind. Everything was warm and green, like the color of his eyes. She glimpsed how hard he worked, how much he _believed_. He was afraid of failing, but he kept trying. It was as if he needed to work if only to challenge that fear, again and again. He couldn't let it rule him. Lex had never imagined confronting her own fears like that and she was in awe of him.

But while she witnessed all of the strength in him, she was ashamed of the weaknesses that he would see in her.

_No…_ his mind whispered. _Not weakness, never that. Perseverance, survival. What happened to you was unspeakable. It would have been so easy to let go and die, but here you are._

She wished that she could accept the compliment, but it wouldn't be right. It was so untrue._ At the expense of others, at the expense of my own self…_

_What's done is done. Forgive yourself. Try again._

Lex gave something like a mental sigh. _It's not that simple._

_Neither is surviving what you went through. You have the strength._

She wanted to believe it, but was afraid to. For now she merely accepted his words and held them close to her heart.

His lips suddenly left hers and Lex opened her eyes, catching herself before she whined in protest. Reece gave her a small smile as he gathered her into his arms and stood up, carrying her over to the bed. He lay her down and she turned on her side to face him when he lay down next to her.

Instinctively, she started to pull her shirt up, but Reece took hold of her hands to stop her. Lex looked up at him, confused and a little hurt. "You don't have to," he said. "I just want to hold you, okay?"

It would have been easier for her to sleep with him. It was what she knew. Simply lying next to him seemed far more intimate. But Reece drew her closer until her head was resting on his chest, her arm draped over him as he lay on his back.

"So what do you have against Creed?" he asked.

The question was so out of the blue that Alexandra laughed out loud. "Oh, you don't want to get me started," she said. "Creed, the Yankees, the Republican party, Walmart…these are topics you should avoid unless you want to hear an hour long diatribe."

"Okay, then what kinds of music do you like?"

Lex answered and they talked softly and easily for hours. Reece's hand played with her hair while she stroked the hard planes of his chest, the sculpted muscles of his arms. Eventually he turned off the light and their voices fell to murmurs as they started to drift off to sleep.


	17. Truce and Truths

Alexandra woke up a few hours later. She didn't know what time it was or what day it was. The room was dark, but that didn't mean anything because they were underground. Finally she noticed Reece's cell phone lying on the nightstand next to the bed. She slowly reached for it and saw that it was past 3am.

Reece was still sleeping peacefully next to her, his breathing deep and even. Lex had never really slept next to anyone like this. With Tristan, she tended to pull off to her own side of the bed, shying away from any contact with him while she slept. But she was strangely comfortable now, lying next to Reece with her arm over his chest and her leg draped over his thigh. She couldn't believe that he was still here with her. He trusted her not to hurt him or kill him in his sleep. He trusted her to be in his room, where there was sensitive information she could find and maybe sell to the highest bidder. She didn't understand his faith in her, but she was grateful for it.

She felt peculiar then, driven by some impulse she couldn't explain and didn't dare pause to contemplate. Lex carefully disentangled herself from Reece, trying not to disturb him, and slid off the foot of the bed. She hoped that he wouldn't wake up before she came back.

Quietly, she opened his door and stepped out into the bright hallway. It took her sensitive eyes a few minutes to adjust as she walked down towards the elevator, her feet bare and cold.

The elevator opened onto the 10th underground floor, where the infirmary was. This late, there weren't many Daybreakers around, just a few witches at the main desk, a couple of human nurses in scrubs walking down the hall toward the patients' rooms.

Lex had a talent for making herself invisible, so that no one noticed her. It was a practiced art that she took advantage of now. She followed the nurses down the hall, stopping to look at each patient's chart in a folder attached to each door. After walking up and down a few corridors, she finally found the person she was looking for.

He should have been guarded, but strangely there was no one outside his door. When Lex picked the lock and went inside, she understood. Aiden St. Helen was chained to the hospital bed. Thick wooden cuffs were clasped tightly around his wrists and interlocking wood and metal chains were wrapped around his chest, covering him from shoulder to stomach. She was surprised that he could still breathe under the weight.

Aiden's pale gray eyes fixed on her as soon as she shut the door behind her. His mouth looked sullen and the top of his head was wrapped in gauze. His steady gaze on her seemed to be a challenge. There was a clarity in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Lex came to stand next to his bed and, after taking a breath, she sat down by his legs.

The slight dilation of his pupils told her that she had surprised him. "What do you want?" he asked her. His voice lacked the sultry warmth that it had possessed earlier.

At first Alexandra couldn't answer because she had no idea why she was here. She only knew that she'd been lying next to Reece, thinking about trust and faith, and she'd been compelled to see Aiden. It had been foolish and she knew that she should leave, but she couldn't.

"I don't know," she replied. "I guess maybe I wanted to apologize for slamming you into the wall."

Aiden mouth twisted into something that could have been a smile or a sneer. "How kind of you."

Lex was quiet, trying to think of something to say. Why had she come here?

The words fell from her lips before she even knew what she was saying. "I'm not her." She'd said it several times before, but she needed him to understand it. She looked steadily into Aiden's gray eyes as if she were trying to will him into believing her.

"I know," he replied sadly, with a sigh. Lex was taken aback. She hadn't expected him to agree with her, not yet. "Don't worry, angel. I haven't completely lost my grasp on reality. What I saw in your mind…that wasn't Eve. I only wanted it to be her."

"I'm sorry," Lex said, not knowing what she was apologizing for now. "I guess I must have absorbed some of her soul's essence when I— I read her while she died. That's the only thing I can think of. The physical soulmate link is there between us, but…"

"Not the emotional link," he finished for her. "I know."

"Why didn't you stop?" Lex asked him, suddenly angry. "You must have seen—you knew how much you were hurting me. Why didn't you let me go?"

He seemed like he was trying to shift his weight under the chains wrapped around him, but didn't have the strength. "I don't know. The link felt amazing at first, like it always did in the second before I would block it out. But then I realized that you weren't Eve and I didn't want to believe it. Maybe I just wanted to pretend."

Aiden looked down as if he couldn't stand to look at her any more. The pain radiated from him so fiercely that Lex could almost see it, angry red and vivid, like a raw wound that wouldn't ever heal. His soulmate was dead and he had the rest of eternity to obsess about the things that he'd done wrong.

"She forgave you," Lex told him softly. "Her last thought was that she loved you."

The vampire's gaze snapped back up to Alexandra and she saw the gleam of tears in his eyes. "Really?"

At Alexandra's nod, Aiden's face contorted as he began to sob. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know…I didn't let myself feel her until it was too late. She took everything from me, my whole life. I hated her for that. And I'm so, so sorry."

Lex laid her hand on his leg that was under the blanket, afraid to do anything more. His tears unnerved her because they revealed how fragile he was. But this was what she'd come for, wasn't it? She recognized that sorrow in him and she wanted she wanted to touch it. "It's all right. She forgave you. She loved you."

"Then why did she leave?" he cried passionately. He seemed more like a child than a Night World killer then. His tears streamed down his cheeks because his hands weren't free to brush them away.

"I don't know." Her voice broke and Alexandra found herself crying with him. Her heart broke with his. "It was selfish and she knew that it was. But she was so tired of living. She was tired of being the Wild Power and of being hurt because of it. She was tired of Daybreakers treating her like a messiah and of having to be watched all the time. She was tired of making sacrifices. She was just…tired."

Aiden sniffed, composing himself a little. "So she passed the power on to you. She chose you."

Lex rolled her eyes and wiped her cheeks. "She should have held out for someone better."

"She must have seen something in you," he insisted. "She could read auras."

"Reece," Lex whispered. "Maybe she saw that I was Reece's soulmate."

Aiden smiled a broken smile. "That's the witch, right? I saw him in you. I suppose that makes sense. She would want her power to be protected by someone she trusted."

His tears had stopped for now, but Lex knew that there would be a flood of them in the future. His grief would never end. Aiden sighed and bit his lip, looking like he was debating something. She was quiet and realized that she was holding her breath, waiting for him to speak.

"I don't know why I'm telling you this," he said after a while. "I worked for the Night World for decades. I wanted us to win the war. I guess it doesn't seem to matter now, after losing her. And…I like you. So I think you should know that you don't have a lot of time left. Angie must know about you by now and she'll be coming to kill you eventually. She's not going to give up on that, ever."

The conviction in his tone chilled her. "Why not?"  
"She plays it cool. She acts like a slutty, conceited bitch most of the time. Like she doesn't really care about anything but having a good time and getting more power. But the truth is that her own power is driving her crazy."

Alexandra nodded slowly. She, more than anyone, could understand that.

"She hates you, you know," Aiden continued. "That's probably why she liked goading you with that 'Soul Stealer' line. She hates that you can choose to stop sensing people's souls because she can't. Angie hears the thoughts and emotions of everyone in the world. All the time. It's loud and it's wearing her down."

"What does that have to do with the Wild Power?"

"Without four of them, darkness will reign. Humans will be slaughtered and all that will be left is Night People. We make up only a minute fraction of the people in the world."

Lex thought for a moment and then she understood. "Less people, less noise."

"Right."

"Can she hear me right now?" she asked nervously. "Can she hear you?"

"I've figured out a way to block her. It's a spell, actually. A cloaking spell. She might be listening to you, but if she concentrates too long on any one voice, she gets a migraine so bad that it would bring anyone to their knees."

Alexandra shook her head wonderingly. "I can't imagine living with the sound of everyone's soul in my head. It must be so hard. It's hard enough for me living with the power I have."

Aiden smiled wryly at her. "Don't make the mistake of pitying Angie. She'll take advantage of it." He waited a beat. "The same goes for me."

Lex looked at him. His mouth was set in a grim line. "What do you mean?"

"Don't pity me. Whatever pain I feel…it's far less than I deserve."

"I know that feeling," she said softly. "I spent years hating myself and trying to tear myself apart."

"I saw that," Aiden admitted.

"Fun as it can be, I think maybe it doesn't do any good. You can't take back what you've done. Neither can I."

"But how can I live with it?" His silvery eyes pleaded with her, desperate for an answer.

"I'll let you know when I figure it out."

"Do you think—" his voice broke off and he tried again. "Do you think I'll see her again? Do you think she'll be reborn somewhere?"

"You're asking the wrong person." Truthfully, Alexandra wasn't sure that she would want Genevieve to be reborn. Aiden might be remorseful now, but there was no way to predict what he would become later. It might be better for the both of them if Genevieve's soul stayed away from this world.

"What do you think Daybreak will do to you, once you're better?" she asked him.

"I don't know. I don't think they would've wasted all the witch power healing me if they were going to execute me. I'm probably too valuable now, with what I know about Angie and the Night World here."

"Will you tell them anything?"

Aiden moved slightly under the chains, as if he were trying to shrug his shoulders. "Sure," he replied in a dull voice. "What do I care now."

"It's what she would have wanted."

"Doesn't matter. She's still dead."

It hurt Lex to look at him. He was in so much pain and she felt a kinship with him because of that. In many ways they were too alike to ever be good for each other. But she wanted to offer him a shred of comfort, as Reece had given her. Tentatively, she walked towards the head of the bed and brushed the tears off his cheeks.

The soulmate link opened between them and in some fundamental way, it still felt _wrong_. But Lex clenched her teeth against her fear and let him see what she'd seen in Gen's mind as she died. She wanted him to know undoubtedly that Genevieve had still loved him.

When she broke away from him, Aiden looked up at her, his eyes shining, and whispered, "Thank you."

"I should probably go," she said, stepping back. "Thanks for telling me about Angie."

"Sure," he said quietly.

She gave him a small smile. "I like you, too."

Aiden smiled back at her and she realized that they were connected in their own way. It wasn't like what she had with Reece, but it went beyond the discordant soulmate link that had been thrust upon them. They were like two addicts struggling through the beginning of recovery. It wouldn't be good for either of them to become too close, but they were important to each other regardless. Maybe one day, when they were both stronger people…

Better not to think of it now.

Without saying anything more, Alexandra left his hospital room to return to her own soulmate.

* * *

Reece's heart was pounding. He was pacing his room, not knowing what else to do with himself. She was okay, he knew that much. If she was hurt or distressed, he was pretty sure that he would feel it. And right now all he felt was his own anxiety.

He'd woken up, feeling a little cold, and saw that Lex was not lying next to him. She wasn't anywhere in his room or on the floor. Somehow he'd stopped himself from systematically searching every floor in the compound and realized that, as long as he knew she was alright, the best thing he could do was wait in the room until she came back. Hell of a lot easier said than done.

Goddess, he was in trouble. Reece could almost laugh at himself. Little more than a week ago, he was in Canada, keeping Montreal as safe from the Night World as he could. He'd been organized and in control. Now he was pacing his room, out of his mind with worry about a girl that, in the last two days, had come to mean so much to him that it was frightening.

His breath stopped when he heard the doorknob quietly turning and he watched the door crack open. Once she saw that the lights in the room were on, Lex came inside with an apologetic expression on her face.

"I was hoping you'd still be asleep," she said.

"Well I'm not," he said, wishing his heartbeat would slow down. "Where the hell did you go?"

He saw her blue eyes widen, as if he had scared her. "I went to talk to Aiden."

Reece couldn't speak, he simply had no words to respond to that. He kept swallowing, trying desperately to reign in his fear and frustration. _She's back, she's okay. Nothing happened. Calm down._

"I should have left a note," Lex said lamely.

"No," he said through his gritted teeth. "You shouldn't have gone at all. How can I keep you safe if you put yourself in dangerous situations?"

"I'm sorry. I'm not used to—"

"Get used to it, Lex. You're _my_ responsibility."

Alexandra's shoulders stiffened. "I see," she said coldly. "Well I wouldn't want to ruin your career and reputation. In the future I'll ask you before I go anywhere. Now if we're done with this discussion, I'm going to try to get some more sleep."

She strode past him rigidly, her shoulder roughly jostling him as she headed towards the bed. Reece turned and grabbed her forearm. "No, we're not done," he said huskily.

He jerked her into his arms and kissed her forcefully. He could feel her chest heaving against his as she tried to breathe. Her arms went around his neck as she shuddered in his grip. Closer, he needed her closer. He reached down to lift her up and Lex wrapped her legs around him, crossing her ankles at his back.

Oh, he was coming undone. Her mouth was hot against his, her mind bright and brazen with passion that finally rivaled his own. Reece needed to feel her, to prove to himself that she was truly okay. He'd been so scared, despite how hard he'd tried to rationalize his fears away. Lex was here now, safe and in his arms.

By degrees, he calmed down and finally dragged his lips from Alexandra's. He held her tightly against him, both of them gasping for air. "Don't do that to me," Reece breathed. "Ever again. I was worried about you."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her breath tickling his neck. "I didn't mean to."

Biting down on a groan of regret, Reece reluctantly set Lex back on her feet. She was dazed and he couldn't help grinning when her balance wavered as she tried to get over to the bed.

"Why did you go?" he asked, sinking into the down comforter as he sat down next to her.

"I'm not sure. I needed to talk to him about what happened. I wanted him to understand that I'm not Genevieve." Alexandra hesitated and looked at Reece. "I have to tell you this. Aiden and I have a soulmate link."

"What? That's not possible."

"It's true. I watched Genevieve die and I was drawn into her. Maybe her soul was sort of imprinted on me then. Whatever it was, that's why Aiden was sure that Genevieve had taken over me. He wasn't really crazy. It's just that he could feel that he had a physical soulmate connection to me."

Reece felt sick, as if the air had been knocked out of him.

"But it feels different than it does with us," Lex continued hastily. "It feels wrong. Like someone else's limb attached to me. I can't explain it. But he understands now. When he touched me back in the cell, he saw that I wasn't Genevieve. He's in so much pain…I wanted him to know that she loved him until the end."

It was an effort for Reece to get the words out, but he needed to do it. "And you?"

It was a vague question, but Lex understood what he was asking. "No. I don't love him."

Reece exhaled, releasing the tension that had built up inside him. It was disturbing just how relieved he was and he didn't want to think about what it meant.

"He told me some things about Angie," Alexandra said, veering away from wherever their discussion had been going. She told him about Angie's power and why Angie was so desperate to kill a Wild Power.

"Okay," Reece said, his mind racing with plans and details. "We need to figure out what cloaking spell Aiden is using to block her. And I need to get you out of here as soon as possible. We can't tell anyone where we're going or anything else about this. The more people that know, the more people Angie can get information from."

Reece got up and unzipped a black shoulder bag that was lying on the desk. He pulled out a laptop and booted the computer up. Moments later he was frantically typing and searching through web pages. "Databases of spells," he explained when Lex looked at the screen over his shoulder. "I should be able to find it."

"What can I do?" she asked him anxiously.

Reece turned to her. "Eat," he said shortly. "There's food in the fridge, blood bags too. Have both. I don't want you passing out on me, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Lex groaned. But she went into the kitchenette and made a sandwich.

It took a few hours for Reece to narrow down his search. Some of the newer spells hadn't been properly cross-referenced yet, so he was forced to go through some of the pages line by line. He knew he shouldn't complain because this was a hell of a lot easier than using books and trying to translate ancient spells into something that made sense, but he still found himself growling impatiently at the computer when the web pages took longer than a few seconds to load. He kept checking the clock in the corner of the screen, suddenly sure that they were running out of time.

"Ah, this could be it," he finally exclaimed. He reread the spell again as Lex came over to look at the screen. "I think this will work."

"Okay," she said softly. Reece glanced over his shoulder at her and saw her making some vague, nervous gesture with her hands. "I've never had anyone do a spell on me before."

He took her hands in his. "It'll be fine. I've been told that I'm pretty good." He gave her a playful smile.

Lex laughed. "I'm sure. I bet you say that to all the girls."

"I would never," he replied, feigning indignation. Then Reece looked at her seriously. "I promise it'll be okay."

Keeping their hands joined, Reece closed his eyes and recited the words to the spell. He felt Power flowing through him and into Alexandra. She hissed, but did not withdraw from him as the magick surrounded them both. Reece felt a cool sensation at the back of his head, as if water had been poured over him and he shivered. A sudden jolt in Lex's grip told him that she had felt it too.

Reece opened his eyes when the spell was complete, but he didn't release Lex's hands. "I hope that worked," he said. "Now let's get out of here as quietly as possible."

"Where will we go?" Alexandra asked.

"I don't know. I don't care. For right now, let's just worry about getting out of this place and then getting out of the city. Later—"

A shrill screech sounded three times. Then again. Again.

"What is that?" Lex cried over the noise, pressing her hands against her ears.

"It's the alarm," Reece shouted back. He pointed to device on the wall by the door that resembled a smoke detector. A bright light on it flashed in time with the screeching of the alarm. "I think our time just ran out."


	18. Blitzkrieg

Just before sunrise, one hundred and seven Night People gathered three blocks away from the Circle Daybreak compound. Angie had expected more, but it didn't matter. She would have stormed the building by herself, if need be. No more waiting. She would finish this today.

Her head still throbbed from concentrating on Alexandra Harper a few hours before. Normally she wouldn't be out of bed when her headache was this severe, but adrenaline was driving her now. Angie's mind was racing too fast for her to even notice the pain any more.

She sat on a large, smooth granite boulder that stood in front of an orthodontist's office building as a sort of lawn decoration. It gave her a good view of her army and her height let them know that she was the one who was going to give the orders. She would not tolerate any arguments or dissent from them today.

A few of her followers seemed nervous. They were wise to be, Angie thought. She couldn't even remember half of the things she had promised them or threatened them with. The only thing that had mattered was getting them here. She didn't expect many of them to survive this attack and she didn't particularly care. They were simply there to help her get inside and get to Alexandra Harper. If she lost her strongest DC Night World allies in the process, well so be it. She could always rebuild once her mind was finally quiet.

Angie had brought an arsenal of weapons with her, some classical and some high tech: scythes, wooden daggers and swords, grenades, flame-throwers, and guns loaded with silver-tipped wooden bullets. Most of the group was searching through them now, looking for the most powerful or sleekest weapons. Others were loading their guns and strapping holsters on their legs, waists, shoulders.

"Your instructions are simple," she addressed her army once the sun had officially risen. "We are aiming to kill the Wild Power and since most of you don't know who she is or what she looks like, just kill as many Daybreakers as you can. Do it quickly and cleanly, one shot attacks, understand? If you shoot her well enough, she'll die instantly and we don't have to worry about blue fire."

"And what if we don't?" a vampire from the crowd asked. "What if she does use the blue fire?"

"Well, then we'll probably all die and you won't have to worry about anything any more," Angie said pleasantly. "You all know the reasons you showed up today. You knew what you were getting into. Grow some damn balls."

There were a few cocky smirks in the group now. Poor, pretentious fools. Angie wished that she could watch them all die. When they realized that they were not the invincible gods they believed themselves to be, their shocked expressions would be priceless.

"Now," she continued, "I need several of you to stake out the tunnel that connects to the metro station. Your job will be to simply kill every single person who tries to escape that way, Daybreak or Night World. Any volunteers?"

A few of her followers in the crowd raised their hands and Angie sent them on their way so they would reach the tunnel before the majority of the army stormed the main entrance. Several minutes later, she received the signal that the tunnel team was in place.

Her heart beat wildly with childlike giddiness. After years of waiting, years of false hope, years of agony, this was it. No turning back now.

"Happy slaughtering," she said to her army in dismissal.

A faction of cocksure Night People gave a hollow cheer as they charged towards the compound. The rest followed behind them with more prudence. Angie was the last of them, so loaded up with weapons and protective gear that she wouldn't have been able to stand if she were human.

By the time she reached the compound, the main door had already been thrown open and a storm of gunfire raged inside the building. Gathering her preternatural speed, Angie ran up the steps and through the doors. She dashed heedlessly through the war zone of the lobby, bullets grazing her skin and slashing through her hair, and plowed through a set of doors that led into a long hallway that stretched across the width of the compound.

The footsteps of Daybreakers pounded like thunder as they ran in Angie's direction to help defend their building. She could hear them approaching from both the right and left halls that ran along the sides of the compound. If she stood there a moment longer, she would be trapped between the two Daybreaker groups when they turned into her hallway. Angie quickly ran to the elevators and pried the doors open with her fingers, breaking her nails so far down that they bled. Looking into the dark shaft, Angie saw that the elevator car was situated several floors below her. As the doors began to automatically shut again, she jumped into the shaft and grabbed hold of the thick cables that ran down to hold the elevator suspended.

Angie wrapped her feet around the cables and started to lower herself down as she heard the Daybreakers rush past the elevator and into the lobby. Dust swirled around her, choking her as she climbed down, floor by floor. When her feet finally touched the elevator car itself, she crouched down and took a slow breath.

Now she had to find Alexandra in this monstrous place. Gritting her teeth against the onslaught of pain, Angie focused on the din of voices in her head, searched for the rich and delicious sound of Alexandra's mind. Minutes went by and she still couldn't find it. Angie broke into a cold sweat as her heart pounded, blood pumping into her brain, carrying the pain throughout her body. She screamed silently and finally relinquished her concentration on the noise.

Gasping for breath, Angie collapsed onto her side on the elevator, letting her damp face rest in the grime. This could not be happening. She was so close and now Alexandra had somehow found a way to hide herself. Well it sure as hell wouldn't save her. Angie had come too damn far to let the Wild Power slip by her now.

_Bruin_, she summoned her remaining Daybreak mole.

_What do you want, Angie?_ the bear shapeshifter responded, sounding impatient. _I'm sort of busy here, fighting your battles for you._

Angie ignored the barb. Bruin Arctos had a tendency to be insolent, but despite his attitude, he was loyal. _Where is the Wild Power being kept?_

_That, I don't know. She was in the maximum security lockup, but then Hellraiser went off the deep end and attacked her. She's been moved, but I don't know where._

Ah, Hellraiser. Angie remembered the incredible rush of the soulmate connection between Aiden and Alexandra. She smiled, then. _And where is Aiden being held now?_

There was a long pause before Bruin answered her. _Sorry,_ he finally said. _Damn witch tried to hex my head off. Last I heard Hellraiser was in the infirmary. Wild Power did a number on him._ _It's on the tenth underground floor._

Angie stood up and retrieved her shotgun from the holster across her back. Firing several times below her, she shot a hole into the elevator car and jumped down inside it. Pressing the button for the tenth floor, Angie smiled again. She may not know where Alexandra Harper was, but finding Hellraiser would be a good start.

The elevator opened onto the tenth floor with a pleasant _ding_. Angie strode towards the main desk, which appeared to be abandoned. Circling around to the other side, however, she found two Daybreak witches cowering behind their chairs. They looked up at Angie and raised their hands, gesturing in surrender.

"What room is Aiden St. Helen in?" she asked the witches sweetly.

The witches looked at each other. "Room 403," one of them stuttered. "But please—"

Angie drew her gun and shot her before she could finish. She pointed her weapon at the other witch and saw the look of resignation in her eyes. The witch only winced as Angie pulled the trigger.

It hadn't been necessary to kill them, of course. Those two Daybreakers had been too scared and unskilled to attempt to come after Angie. But she simply couldn't help it. With every life she took, there was a fleeting hush in the din, as if all of the other voices were momentarily shocked at the loss of one of them. It was a sensation that Angie had never been able to turn down. And just now the hush energized her as it hinted at the quiet that would come once the Wild Power was dead and the human race was eradicated.

Walking haughtily down the hall, Angie aimed her gun upwards and shot out the overhead lighting as she went, leaving the halls littered in glass. That should warn her if anyone was approaching.

Finally Angie reached room 403. She didn't bother trying the doorknob. She just threw a hard sidekick that broke the deadbolt as the door swung open.

Hellraiser lay on a hospital bed, covered in layers of heavy chains, and miles of white gauze was wrapped around his head. Seeing him, Angie burst out laughing. For a while she couldn't stop. Every time she was about to gain control of herself, she would look back at Aiden and start laughing all over again.

"How far the great and untouchable Hellraiser has fallen," she gasped.

Aiden gave her a grim smile. His gray eyes were dull, as if he was bored, and he seemed unperturbed by her outburst. It annoyed her enough to end her laughing fit.

"Took you long enough to get here, Angie," he said coldly.

"It takes time to gather troops," she replied.

"So you went with a blitzkrieg, I see. I thought that you might. It was your only option left. How did you get anyone to agree to it?"

Angie walked closer to the bed, letting her hips sway seductively with each step. "Oh, it wasn't so hard. A few threats, a few promises of money, power…" She leaned down and bit his earlobe. "Sex."

The corner of Aiden's mouth turned up. "You're so predictable, Angie."

"And you, Hellraiser, are so very unpredictable. In fact, it appears that you have the thought patterns of a madman. I mean honestly, believing your plot-faced soulmate had taken over Alexandra Harper?"

"Ah, you were listening," Aiden replied smoothly. "I suspected as much. I thought I discerned your rancid flavor in Alexandra's mind. Did you enjoy feeling the soulmate link to me through her? Actually, you don't have to answer that. I know you did. After all, it's what you've wanted all along."

Blood rushed to Angie's face as she flushed with rage and humiliation. How had the bastard known? "Please, don't flatter—"

"Don't bother denying it, Angie. I don't need telepathy like yours to know what you've wanted from me. It was rather obvious. You were starting to plan the assassination of the other Wild Powers before Eve ever came to DC. I remember you saying that if you went for them all, you'd have a better chance of killing at least one. But as soon as you found out that Genevieve was my soulmate, you focused only on her. She was the only one you cared about killing."

She hated him suddenly with a vehemence that was frightening. Always so calm and cold. Fucking Hellraiser! How did he always have the upper hand? He was trapped under a pile of chains and he still acted superior to her.

"How did it feel, Aiden?" she lashed out at him. "Watching her die? And how does it feel now, spending eternity knowing that you soulmate is dead? That she died hating you?"

Aiden laughed coldly. "As I said before, Angie, you are so predictable."

"Oh," she gritted through her teeth. "Really."

Angie withdrew a stake from the belt of a holster and thrust it through the layers of chains piled on top of Aiden and into his stomach. She had the satisfaction of seeing his eyes widen slightly in surprise.

"Did you see that one coming, Hellraiser?" she hissed.

"Yes," he replied hoarsely. "Just not yet."

Angie smiled. "I see. You were trying to keep me talking, to give her enough time to get out? Why do you want her to live, Aiden? You know she's not Genevieve. Your soulmate is dead. The Night World is all you have left."

Aiden shook his head slowly. "No. It's not."

Sneering, Angie pulled the stake out of him. He cried out and she licked her lips. "We'll see."

* * *

Reece had a firm grip on her forearm and he was practically dragging Lex out of the room and down the hall. She was still barefoot and wearing the same clothes that she'd been wearing when this whole mess had started. Lex had always thought that she was a good runner and vampires were inherently faster than witches, but Reece had set a pace that she was having trouble matching. Her soulmate could easily run a four-minute mile.

When the hall turned, Reece wrenched her to the side and Lex's bare feet slipped out from underneath her. The witch held her up so she didn't crash to the ground and after an awkward moment, Alexandra regained her balance. He had pulled her against the wall and was looking around the corner into the adjacent hallway. Reece signaled for Lex to be quiet and she tried to catch her breath in silence. Her chest ached.

Suddenly Reece called out a few words that Alexandra couldn't understand and an orange fireball formed between his hands. He threw it at a Night World vampire that was searching the floor and the vampire was almost instantly incinerated. A pile of gray dust was all that remained.

"Nice trick," Lex breathed.

"It's great at cocktail parties," Reece returned dryly. "I think we should assume that both the main entrance and the tunnel exit are not safe for us. We've got to get to the southeast stair well. It's in the far corner of the compound and, as long as Daybreak's defenses are still intact, there should be less hostiles there. We'll get up above ground, try to exit out a window."

"Base jumping without a parachute."

"Something like that." Reece inspected the hallway once more, taking hold of Alexandra's elbow. "Okay, let's move."

They had barely made it a few feet down the hall when a shot exploded behind them. "Get down!" Lex cried, throwing her weight on top of Reece, who was walking ahead of her. They both fell to the floor as a bullet cut through the air above them.

Reece reacted quickly, rolling over to cover Lex while he recited another spell. It seemed like a bubble formed around them, giving their surroundings and the vampires a milky discoloration.

More shots rang out, but the bullets ricocheted off of the protective shield and flew back towards the attackers. From underneath Reece's body, Alexandra couldn't see much, but she heard two different voices crying out in pain, then two heavy thuds as the vampires fell to the floor. The witch threw another orange fireball and there was another scream.

Still lying on top of her, Reece braced himself on his arms and looked down at Lex. "Thanks," he whispered. "But don't risk yourself for me ever again."

"You're used to getting your way, aren't you?" Alexandra asked him incredulously.

Reece grinned and it made Lex's heart thump strangely. She'd never seen him smile so playfully, his green eyes sparkling down at her. It was a contagious look that made her smile back at him. "I've been leading battles against the Night World since I was younger than you look, sweetheart. Of course I'm used to getting my way."

The witch pushed off of her and glanced back down the hall to make sure the two vampires that had been shot with their own bullets were down. Then Reece quickly dispelled the protective shield and helped Lex to her feet.

Again they started running towards the southeast stairwell. Once they had entered it, Reece scanned the flights of stairs below them and saw that there was no one coming up. But there were, however, several Night People coming down the stairs.

"Get down against the wall," he hissed at Alexandra. She quickly did as he said, just as a wolf leapt down towards them from a landing several stories above.

The heavy wolf slammed against Reece, plowing him back against the wall. The shapeshifter snarled, baring its teeth and clawing at the witch. Reece cried out as the wolf slashed his face, leaving four long gashes across his forehead and cheeks, barely missing his eye. Lex screamed as she felt the fire of the cuts on her own face through the soulmate link. Reece tried to shove the shapeshifter off of him, but the wolf was simply too heavy and the animal kept him pressed back against the wall. Lex could distinctly make out a sinister laugh in the wolf's growls.

Before she knew what she was doing, Alexandra threw herself into the fight, trying to wrestle between Reece and the shapeshifter. The wolf roared, pushing her away as if she weighed nothing and Lex fell hard onto her back. But for an instant she had distracted the wolf and it had eased its pressure on Reece, giving him the chance to reach down into his boot to grab a dagger. When the wolf bore down on the witch again, Reece plunged the silver blade into the animal's chest.

With a sharp yelp, the wolf collapsed heavily in front of Reece's feet. The witch dabbed at the blood running down his face with his sleeve and then bent down to retrieve his dagger from the wolf's body. He waited silently, watching the movements of the Night People up the stairs. Most of them just went through doors to wreak havoc on other floors, so Reece signaled for Lex to follow him as they continued up the stairs.

"I told you not to risk yourself," he said softly, but seriously. "You're too important."

"So are you," Lex replied. At Reece's sharp glance, she shrugged. "Practically speaking, if you get killed in here, I probably won't make it out."

"And impractically speaking?"

Alexandra just shook her head. She didn't want to get into that now. She wasn't sure she ever wanted to have that conversation with him. The very thought made her feel hot and uncomfortable, like there were bees swarming in her stomach, stinging and prickling.

Reece let it go. They walked quickly and carefully up the stairs. The danger wasn't so bad here, but it would only get worse as they got closer to the ground floor. That was, of course, assuming that they Daybreakers were still fighting to defend their main entrance. But with how many Night People they had seen already, Alexandra had the feeling that the Daybreakers had retreated further into the compound.

Suddenly, after they had made it up to the eighth underground floor, Reece ducked down, pulling Lex with him. There were footsteps on the stairs directly above them and after a moment, a vampire came into view. Reece began to whisper a spell and tried to generate a fireball in his hands, but the vampire must have heard him. He came at them so quickly that Lex hadn't even seen him move.

Reece pushed Alexandra down a few steps as the vampire bared his fangs and went for the witch's throat. Reece head-butted him, but it didn't deter the vampire. He tried to throw a low hook to the vampire's gut, but wasn't fast enough. The vampire had Reece in his grip, mouth open as he attempted to go for the witch's jugular. Reece finally managed to get his foot between them and shoved the vampire back.

The fight continued and there wasn't a damn thing Alexandra could do about it. The battle between the vampire and her soulmate moved faster and was more vicious than the attack by the shapeshifter had been. Sweat mixed with Reece's blood to make red rivers that flowed down his face. Alexandra felt desperate, but she couldn't think of a way to help Reece that wouldn't possibly distract him or get them both hurt.

The pain took her by surprise. One second she was watching Reece fight, frustrated by her own helplessness, and the next she was doubled over, dry heaving. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, but the pain didn't lessen. She would have cried out, but it hurt too much to suck in a breath.

Somehow she lifted her head a fraction and saw that Reece was still battling the vampire, but he hadn't been hurt. No, the phantom pain wasn't coming from him. It had to be coming from Aiden.

Alexandra fought to pull herself up onto her feet. Using the railing for support, she staggered down two flights of stairs until she reached the tenth floor, the infirmary. It was the last place that she'd seen him, but even if she hadn't known where he was, it wouldn't have mattered. The soulmate link was pulling her to him.

Hunched over with her arms still wrapped around herself, she stumbled through the stairwell door and into the infirmary. Broken glass crunched loudly under her feet. The fluorescent lights overhead had been broken and the floor was illuminated only by the emergency lights at the ends of the halls. In the darkness, the place seemed abandoned and silent, but Lex knew that it wasn't. Aiden had been chained to his bed and someone had taken advantage of his vulnerability.

This was foolish of her. Even if she found Aiden alive, there was nothing that she would be able to do for him. And if the attacker was still there, she probably wouldn't be able to defend herself well enough. The rational parts of her mind were screaming at her, but Lex could barely hear them. The soulmate link was pulling at her and its hum, along with the burning pain in her stomach, washed out all other thoughts. She heedlessly walked down the hallway to his room.

The deadbolt on his door had been broken open. Alexandra pushed at the door and saw him lying on the hospital bed, blood running down the chains and dripping onto the floor. His face was pale as he turned to her, his gray eyes stark with fear.

She started towards him, but when she saw the word forming on his lips, she froze.

"Run," he croaked.

But it was too late. The door slammed behind her and, startled, Alexandra whipped around to face Angie Catellini.

"Hello, Soul Stealer," the flame-haired vampire said with a brilliant smile. "I'm pleased to see that you received my invitation. I think it's time for us to have a little chat." Angie cocked her head to the side, as if she were contemplating something. "Actually, on second thought, I'll skip that and move right on to killing you. What do you think?"


	19. Touch of Fate

A strange smile captured Alexandra's lips. A chilling calm settled over her, slowing her breath and brightening her eyes. It had been stupid to leave Reece, to follow a pain that she only felt because of a connection that never should have been. Oh, she had been thoughtless and daft, but seeing Angie Catellini before her now, Lex realized that she'd never had a choice in the matter. She felt a sort of shiver inside, something akin to what she'd felt when Reece had touched her for the first time. Something like the shock of Aiden's hand over her mouth. Something like the awe she'd felt when she first saw the ethereal figure of Genevieve Harman. Alexandra recognized it now as the touch of fate. She'd never believed in something so far-fetched and yet so clichéd, but looking into Angie's eyes, it was undeniable. This was where she was supposed to be at this moment. And Lex found that she unafraid, because whatever was meant to happen was about to happen.

She had never been fearless before and the sudden lightness of it surged through her, cool and empowering. She put her hands on her hips and looked back at Angie defiantly.

The fiery vampire noticed the change in Lex's posture and laughed. "Ooh," she exclaimed. "I see you've gotten a little feisty since the last time I saw you, Luscious. That should make this a little more interesting, then."

Angie raised her arm, pointing a gun at Alexandra's head. Lex only smiled. "Don't be ridiculous," she said pleasantly. "You can't shoot me. I can move too fast. You won't be able to kill me without drawing blood."

With an ugly sneer, Angie threw her weapon to the ground. She took a step to her left and Lex did the same. They started to circle each other. "Daybreak has told you too much."

"More than I would have trusted me with, but they didn't have much of a choice. I'm the Wild Power now."

"They're fools. We both know that it takes so little pressure to make you bend to someone's will."

Lex took another step, staying directly across the room from Angie. "People change."

At that, Angie laughed bitterly. "Trust me, they don't. I hear them buzzing around in my head, day after day, year after year. It's always the same. Hate, fear, vanity, greed. The more they change, the more they stay the same, Luscious."

Alexandra shook her head. "For all of your power, you don't understand much about people."

"Take you, for instance," Angie challenged. "You stand there, arrogantly believing that you have a will of your own. But you're here now because I made you come."

"And for what, Angie? You can't kill me, you know that. You can't do it unless I let you, and I think you've seen exactly what I would go through to survive."

"You're forgetting one thing, Soul Stealer. I may not be able to shoot you, stake you, or beat you to death, but there are ways to kill you without drawing blood. And I'm a hell of a lot stronger than you."

As soon as the words fell from her lips, Angie dove for Alexandra, catching her around the waist, and they both fell to the floor. Pain shot up Lex's arms as her elbows cracked against the tile.

Angie hadn't been exaggerating; she was at least six inches taller and perhaps twenty-five pounds heavier than Lex was. And even though Alexandra had fed earlier, one blood bag did not undo the damage from years of deprivation. She felt like a weak deer being attacked by a tiger. Her feeble attempts at defending herself would not help her. There was only one thing that could…

Angie's weight was on top of her, sliding up her body. The fiery vampire grabbed Alexandra's curly hair and used it to wrench her head up and slam it back onto the floor. Lex saw stars as the pain exploded behind her eyes. She literally felt as if she'd been knocked senseless; her conscious thoughts were broken and she couldn't find her way back to them.

"You like that?" Angie demanded as used her knees to clamp Lex's arms tightly against her sides. And then the vampire's hands were around Alexandra's throat, thumbs crushing into her as she squeezed. "You like how your head pounds and the ringing in your ears is so loud that you can barely hear? Everything is spinning and you can hardly see? Does it feel good, Soul Stealer?"

Instinctively, Alexandra bucked her hips to try and throw Angie off of her, but the other vampire was situated too high on her torso for it to work. She tried to get her hands free, but Angie's knees pressed into her arms, holding them against her body. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears as she struggled in vain to take another breath.

Red hair brushed Lex's face as Angie glared down at her, screaming shrilly. "Imagine living with that for years. _Constantly_. You can't sleep and sometimes it hurts too much to _think_. And you _dare_ to trudge around whining about your power and how it reminds you of your maker and how it makes you feel like him. _Fuck_ _you_, you pathetic little bitch. At least yours isn't constantly _screaming_ in your head. I tell you, your maker knew _nothing_ about torture. _This_ is hell, _this_ is torture!"

White spots flickered and danced in front of Alexandra's eyes. Her lungs burned, demanding air, and she thrashed out desperately, like an animal. Angie held her fast.

"I will_ not_ live like this any more. The human race _will_ _die_ and there is _nothing_ you can do about it. _I will have peace, do you understand me?_"

The white spots faded into black as Lex's vision went dark. It was strange how familiar this moment was. But no…Genevieve, of course. She remembered Genevieve. Lex felt bad for the witch, but she couldn't quite remember why.

And then there was a flash of another witch in her mind, auburn hair and green eyes. Steady gaze that calmed her, smile that warmed her. Lex felt her heart swell.

Reece. Oh, she was sorry for Reece. She hoped that he would understand. This was meant to be. There was nothing to be done about it. The darkness was pulling her under the surface.

Distantly she heard a loud rustle of clinks and then a muffled voice above her. "Start with a piece of me."

And suddenly there was air. Glorious, rich air all around her. Alexandra sucked in a breath and it felt as if she was being propelled upwards, rushing towards reality with too much velocity. She coughed painfully, rolling onto her side. The room spun and the floor seemed to tilt underneath her. She realized belatedly that Angie's weight was off of her completely.

She looked up and tried to focus on the two blurry figures that were moving above her. She could make out the red mass of Angie's hair, but the other person was nearly colorless aside from a splotch of red on the shirt. With a slow glance at the empty hospital bed, Lex realized that it was Aiden.

Angie cried out angrily as Aiden lashed a chain at her, beating her to the ground. Frantically Angie grabbed hold of the gun that she had thrown down before. With a tired laugh, she aimed up at Aiden from the floor, her hands shaking. "I may not be able to shoot her," she said between breaths. "But I sure as hell can shoot you."

The shots were loud in the small room as Angie pulled the trigger twice in succession. Aiden fell to the floor, blood now blooming from his chest as well as his stomach. Lex screamed at the sharp stings that burst through the soulmate link and into her own body. Angie's head snapped towards her, as if she suddenly remembered that Alexandra was there.

Snarling like a beast, Angie crawled over to Lex, the cat-green eyes boring down into her. It was as if Angie's entire being was completely focused on her prey. Alexandra was too unsteady to stand so she turned onto her back and clawed away from Angie. As she used her legs to push herself away, Lex viciously bit into her own lips with her needle-sharp canines. The coppery flavor of her blood hit her tongue and Alexandra smiled.

The fiery vampire leapt at her and Angie's knee rammed into Lex's stomach, knocking the air out of her. Then Angie was on top of her again, hands finding their way back to Alexandra's throat. Lex collected as much saliva and blood as she could and spat into Angie's face.

"Bitch!" Angie hissed. But she didn't move to wipe the spit away. Her grip tightened until Lex thought that her eyes would burst out of her head.

_Blue fire_, she thought, but she couldn't make it come. The two times that she'd used it, she'd done it unconsciously. And now, even with her blood staining her lips, she didn't know how to force the blue fire out of her.

_Genevieve, help me…_

An arm wrapped around Angie's throat from behind her, tearing her hands from Alexandra's neck. Angie's legs thrashed wildly as Reece pulled her away. His skin was marred with dark bruises and his face was smeared with blood. The quiet grace in him was gone. Rage flashed brightly in his eyes, burning there like green flames. He held Angie in a headlock and growled something softly into her ear.

Angie breathed something unintelligible back at him.

Reece's voice filled the room, sounding deep and utterly foreign to Alexandra. Time seemed to stretch then. She looked at Angie, trapped in the bend of Reece's arm. Her red hair was in tangles around her porcelain face and she was smiling dreamily.

Alexandra's eyes were drawn to Angie's. Lex could feel her power starting to course through her, like a flush over her body. But the eerie calm descended on her again and she simply watched her power rise like a wave, as if she were someone else. There was no fear, no panic. She took a slow breath, and it started to dissipate, tingling across her skin. A violent shiver shook her, and then it was over.

Angie smiled at Lex. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back. Reece roared and then Angie Catellini was nothing but a pile of ashes dusting his clothes.

* * *

The battle continued in the compound, but it didn't seem to matter any more. Reece held his hands over Aiden St. Helen, pouring that last of his Power into the vampire. He didn't want to be doing this. If Lex hadn't begged him to heal Aiden, Reece probably would have left the vampire to die. The thought unsettled him.

She was still crying. Tears streamed from her luminescent eyes, over her fine-boned cheeks. It stole Reece's breath and it cut his heart to pieces. He'd come so close to losing her and he hadn't even realized that she was gone until it was nearly too late.

The spell he'd done on Angie was an illegal one and the only one that had come to mind once he'd gotten his arm around her. Angie had appeared to die instantly, but Reece knew that the instant felt like an eternity of agony for the victim. He'd never done an illegal spell before. Reece should have felt guilty, should have felt regret. He felt neither and that thought unsettled him as well.

Aiden's eyes opened and he coughed. "Alexandra?"

Lex crawled to the vampire's side. "I'm here," she whispered. Her voice was gone, her larynx crushed. It would heal with time.

"Angie?"

"Dead," Lex replied with a nod to Reece.

Aiden looked at the witch. "Thank you."

Reece should have said the same. Aiden had rescued Lex during the fight, before Reece got there. He broke through layers of heavy chains, even has he bled out, just to save her.

The witch said nothing.

The three of them were still and silent. It hurt Reece to be there. It hurt to see the blood on Lex's lips, the thumbprints staining her pale throat. Had he kissed her neck yet? He didn't think so. How could he ever do it now, without thinking about…

Alexandra raised her eyes to him and there was a sparkle there that soothed him slightly. It told him that she was alive and she was his. Angie was dead, Aiden didn't matter. It was only them. Reece knew it wasn't true, but for the moment he let himself believe it.

After a time, Reece's cell phone rang.

"Where are you?" Anton Parish demanded.

"The infirmary," Reece replied. His voice sounded too loud as it cut through the silence of the room.

"Is the Wild Power—"

"She's fine. What's our status?"

"Back under control. Camera surveillance is showing that the intruders are dead or out of commission. What about Angie?"

"Dead."

"Thank the gods…"

Normally Reece would not have agreed with that sentiment. A life was a life. But not now. He just snapped his phone shut.

He looked at Alexandra. "It's all clear," he said softly.

Reece stood up and left the room.

Bodies littered the stairwell, the hallway. Daybreak and Night World alike.

His room was as they left it when the alarm had gone off. Reece walked in and stared around, not knowing what to do. Finally he grabbed a duffel bag from under the bed, opened the dresser draws and began to shove his things into the bag. What was left in the room was negligible; he'd been planning on leaving it all behind when he took Genevieve out of here. But now that he had the time, he might as well pack it up.

He felt her when she came inside without making a sound. She watched him wordlessly for a few minutes. She knew he was aware of her. The useless things the soulmate link told him.

"What are you doing?" she finally whispered.

Reece didn't turn around. "Packing."

"You're leaving?"

"Angie's dead, a lot of her people are dead." Reece roughly stuffed a shirt into his bag without folding it. "I think my presence here is no longer needed."

Lex was quiet and against his better judgement, he glanced over his shoulder at her. She was looking at him steadily, her gaze as strong as he'd ever seen it. Reece turned away. Swallowed.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I told you. My presence here is no—"

"Fuck that," Alexandra whispered. Though her voice had no tone, the force behind her words was formidable. "Why are you doing this?"

Reece didn't answer. He had stopped packing and stood tiredly, staring at the wall.

Alexandra came up behind him, took hold of his shoulder, and turned him to face her. Reece let it happen. She could have touched him and would have known the truth, but she wanted to hear it from him. And that was his undoing.

A sob escaped him and Reece covered his face with his hands. Tears mixed with the blood on his face and it dripped onto the floor. Everything stung, but he didn't care. He fell to his knees before Alexandra and then she was on the floor next to him. Her arms were around him and Reece buried his face in her hair.

"You left me," he sobbed. "You almost died. I didn't know you were gone. You went to him…you left me. I couldn't…And Genevieve and Beth and Sumitra…fucked, everything's fucked. And if Aiden hadn't been there…but you went to him. And if I hadn't gotten there when I did...What I did to Angie, oh Goddess…"

Christ, he wasn't making sense. The words wouldn't form, the sentences wouldn't finish. There was only grief and anger and loss.

"How could you do that?" he finally got out. "Did you want to die?"

And now Alexandra was the silent one. This wasn't the time for answers or discussions. He wasn't rational, wasn't entirely sane. Neither was she. She just held him and they both cried.

* * *

Aiden felt like pain incarnate. He'd been shot before and really, that wasn't so bad. And, of course, this wasn't the first time that Angie had run him through with a stake. But it had never hurt like this. The witch might have healed him, but he hadn't done anything to numb the pain.

He smiled wryly. Aiden knew that, if he'd been in the witch's position, he would have done the same. After all, it was his fault that Angie had been able to lure Alexandra to her. Aiden should have stayed away, should never have come back to this compound searching for his lost soulmate. He should have remembered that Angie would use everyone and everything to achieve her ends. Aiden was never exempt from that.

Aside from the physical pain, he felt very…detached. He felt like he could lie on the floor in the infirmary for the rest of his life, watching time pass by above him. In the world, but not part of it.

Eve never would've approved. She believed that as long as you were alive, you had a responsibility to do something with your life. Aiden supposed that, maybe, was what finally killed her. She didn't want to feel pain and she was sick of being a Wild Power, but she couldn't allow herself to simply separate herself from the world either. She wouldn't have believed that she could come back. That left only one option.

Aiden contemplated that option as well. He had no real reason to live. His work was over, his soulmate dead, no friends or family. There was nothing…

Except for her.

She wasn't his real soulmate, no. Aiden didn't think they qualified as friends either. But still she was something to hang on to.

He couldn't erase the image of Angie straddling Alexandra, slowly extinguishing her life. It somehow melded with the older image of his hands around Eve's throat and Alexandra's blue eyes took on a violet hue.

He'd gone mad. If Angie hadn't shot him, he would have torn her apart with his bare hands. In a way, it would have felt like he was tearing himself apart. Maybe that would have been redemption. If she hadn't shot him…

If, if, if…

No, the witch was right. Alexandra was far better off without Aiden. The witch had a strength and an inherent sense of decency that Aiden would never have. Alexandra needed it right now. She might hate herself with a religious fervor, but there was still a chance for something to change, and the witch would be a part of it.

But Aiden held her smile and her words, _"I like you, too"_, close to his heart. He clutched it tightly, like a talisman. It would be enough.

Gritting his teeth, Aiden sat up. He struggled to keep his torso straight as he tried to stand. His knees nearly buckled under him and the room spun. He'd lost so much blood. After a long moment, his vision cleared and he trudged slowly out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Injured Daybreakers were starting to fill the infirmary, some limping in and others wheeled in on stretchers. Witches and doctors ran around frantically, trying to heal them one by one. No one noticed Aiden walk by as he made his way to the elevator.

He pushed the button for the ground floor. Feeling a draft on his neck, Aiden looked up to find a large hole in the ceiling of the elevator. Angie's work, no question. He laughed to himself, but it hurt too much.

The ground floor was even more chaotic than the infirmary had been. Angie's army had wreaked havoc here. Walls were destroyed and bodies were strewn about. Dust, gunpowder, and the scent of blood filled the air. Aiden didn't pause to marvel at the damage. He'd had enough already.

He walked through broken glass across the threshold of the Daybreak compound and stepped outside. The sun was climbing higher and the air was already warm. Spring had seized Washington.

Aiden St. Helen took one last look at the compound. In that moment, it felt like he relived every second he'd spent with Eve there and his heart ached. But talisman in hand, he turned back and started down the stairs.

* * *

He was calmer now, his sudden, sharp intakes of breath coming less often. Lex still didn't release him. She was afraid that if she did, he would grab the stuffed duffle bag lying on the bed and bolt. She was afraid that she would never see him again. But her arms around him now told her that he was here, that he was real.

Reece lifted his head. "I'm sorry," he murmured against her cheek.

"Not at all," Alexandra whispered. It was hard not having a voice, not being able to express in her tone what she truly meant.

"This entire mission…" he trailed off.

"Clusterfuck."

She could feel his smile. "That's my word."

"I stole it from you."

Alexandra sighed. She could feel the truth in his skin brushing against hers, but she asked anyway. "Are you sorry you took it?"

"No." The certainty of that single word was something solid for Lex to cling to. She slowly eased her hold on him. "I'm sorry that so many people died. I'm sorry that you nearly died. I'm sorry for what's happened to you. But I'm not sorry for coming here and finding you."

"I thought…just now, I thought that you hated me."

There was a flash of darkness in Reece's eyes that faded almost instantly. "No. I didn't mean…everything just crashed in on me at once. You were dying and I didn't even notice that you were gone until it was almost too late." His expression was pained. "Why did you go?"

The easy answer was that the soulmate link had involuntarily pulled her to Aiden, but Alexandra felt that that would only hurt Reece more. So she settled for the incomprehensible truth. "It was time."

She was expecting more questions or at least a strange look, but Reece seemed to accept her answer for what it was.

"So what happens now?" she asked.

Reece brushed her hair back from her face. "I think that's up to you. You could stay here. Daybreak would take care of you. Or you could stay at another safe house in some other city if, for some bizarre reason, you don't feel safe enough here."

Lex laughed humorlessly. "What about you?"

"I'm going back to Montreal, to my team. It's my home."

"Does, uh, Daybreak have any safe houses there?"

"No, it's just me."

"Oh, right," she said. Then she sarcastically tossed his own words back to him. "That's where you've been leading battles against the Night World since you were younger than I look."

Reece gave her a dry look. "Go ahead, mock me now. But you'll see. My team hangs on my every word."

Lex's breath caught. "I'll see?"

"If you'd like."

Alexandra smiled softly. "I would like. But I truly doubt you'd surround yourself with ass-kissers."

"Since I think I'm stuck with you for a while, I guess it's a good thing that you're right. Because your ass-kissing skills are seriously underwhelming."

Lex gave Reece a playful push, but he held her fast. He kissed her lips and Alexandra tasted his blood and tears. He'd shed both of them for her and there would never be a way for her to thank him for something like that. Maybe she didn't have to. But she was willing to spend eternity trying anyway.


	20. Epilogue

The girl was all over him. She wore a jean skirt that barely covered her ass and a top that automatically drew his eyes to her cleavage. Her long, tanned legs were around him as she straddled him on the chair. The bartender glared at them and shook his head as if he were disgusted by their behavior. Jonas Carden knew that the balding, middle-aged man was actually seething with envy.

Her lips grazed his ear again and Carden felt the chills distantly. Her breasts were pressed up against him, but he couldn't feel it. He stared past the girl on his lap into the airport terminal. He surreptitiously glanced at his watch while the girl nibbled at his throat.

His plane to Los Angeles left in an hour. He had no fucking idea what he would do when he got there. His work had been his life and now Carden was technically unemployed. He wondered if Starbucks had any openings.

The girl ground herself against him and Carden tried to enjoy it. But his attention kept wandering back to Risa.

Fucking Aiden St. Helen. Carden had managed to put Risa out of his mind for the better part of a decade, but since the moment he'd stared death in the face, he hadn't been able to think about anything else but her. Her bitter voice rang in his ears, her slap still stung his cheek.

Carden reached for the shot of vodka that rested on the bar and, pushing back the girl on his lap slightly, he swallowed his drink. The alcohol burned his throat on the way down. He could afford better quality vodka, but without the burn, drinking didn't seem worth it.

"What do you say we find a bathroom somewhere?" the girl murmured drunkenly. She continued to purr a long list of suggestions into Carden's ear, each idea more lascivious than the last.

Why the hell was he so bored? Men killed for a girl this creative…

_I will track Risa down, and find some rather creative things to do to her before I rip her heart out…_

Carden shot to his feet, abruptly pushing the drunk girl off of his lap. She stumbled backwards and barely caught herself on the barstool behind her before she fell. "What the hell?" she cried, but Carden didn't hear.

A minute later he stood at the airline's ticketing desk without knowing how he'd gotten there.

"Can I help you?" the agent asked.

Carden slammed his boarding pass to Los Angeles down on the counter. "I need to change my flight," he said urgently.

* * *

Lex didn't like flying, so Daybreak rented a car for them. Reece drove her over to the apartment she'd shared with Tristan. Alexandra showered, changed clothes, and for a while she just lay on the bed in silence.

It was strange for Reece to see her there. He sat on the sofa in the living room and watched her roam around the apartment aimlessly. There wasn't anything that he could do for her. The life she'd led with Tristan was hers alone; Reece was not a part of it, nor did he want to be. He just waited until she was ready to leave.

She packed a bag and then they got the hell out of there. Daybreak would take care of the rest.

They drove back to the compound and parked the rental car on the street in front of the building. Reece ran inside and came back out carrying his duffel bag and shoulder bag. Lex got out of the car as he put his things in the trunk.

"Are you ready?" he asked her as he slammed the trunk shut.

The sun had set by then, the sky a deep blue in the twilight, matching the color of her eyes perfectly. "Yeah," she answered. "I want to go."

Reece knew that she would never come back to Washington, DC. He wasn't sure that he would either.

"Okay, we'll go in a minute. I've just got to wait for Nigel, he said he'd be right out."

The door of the compound opened and the top set of hinges broke loose. The small witch who'd come out awkwardly tried to steady it, but then gave up. The door leaned forward, held to the door frame only by the bottom hinges.

As the witch came closer, Reece saw recognition in Alexandra's eyes. He had almost forgotten that she'd crossed paths with Nigel before.

"Hey, Nigel," Reece greeted him apprehensively. "This is Lex. Lex, Nigel."

The witch bowed his head slightly. "It's nice to meet you, finally. I don't quite know what to say. Sorry for staking you?"

Lex just seemed amused by his discomfort, much to Reece's relief. "Sorry for tripping you."

Nigel gave a short laugh. "Ah, don't ever bring that up again," he said, his face reddening. "That was quite embarrassing."

"We're headed out now," Reece spoke up. "Did you want to come with us?"

The smaller witch shook his head. "No, I'm going to stay and help heal these people. The witches are overworked after the attack."

Reece nodded. Even in the short time it had taken for him to retrieve his bags from the compound, he'd seen too many injured people and too many exhausted witches. He probably should stay to help as well, but Alexandra was his primary responsibility and she wanted to leave.

"What about Carden?" he asked. "I tried to call and he didn't answer."

The witch winced. "He's gone, Cahill."

The color drained from Reece's face and a sinking sickness turned his stomach. "What?"

"No, no. It's not what you think. He's just missing. His hospital room was found empty. He must have packed up and left on foot. Can't say I blame him, after what Anton did."

"Anton is making a huge mistake," Reece said bitterly. He still believed that Carden had been holding something back, something vital that explained why he let Aiden into Alexandra's room. Reece just hoped that, whatever it was, Carden sorted it out. Then maybe he could plea his case to Thierry Descouedres so that he could be reinstated. Reece would unquestionably argue on Carden's behalf. But for now, it was out of his hands.

"No argument here. And by the way, Carden isn't the only one missing."

Reece closed his eyes. "Oh, don't say it."

"Aiden St. Helen managed to escape under everyone's nose as well."

Reece sighed heavily. In the corner of his eye, he saw Lex turn her face away, not quite hiding her smile. It shouldn't have stung, but it did.

"You know," he said tiredly, "sometimes I wish that I'd just gone into accounting."

Nigel laughed. "You'd die of boredom, Cahill, you know it."

"Yeah. Sucks to be me."

"Excuse me?" Alexandra broke in indignantly, poking him roughly on the shoulder.

"No, no!" Reece quickly replied, giving her a placating look. "I mean, it's great to be me, as long as you're around."

Lex smiled smugly.

"Okay, I'm going to go back in," Nigel said, rolling his eyes. "Take care of her, Cahill."

"I will," Reece assured him. "Take care of yourself."

The witch just nodded and started back towards the compound.

Reece and Alexandra got into the car and he started the engine. He looked over at his soulmate and found her pushing her shining hair back over her shoulder. She lounged back into the car seat and put her bare feet up on the dashboard, looking more comfortable and relaxed than he'd ever seen her.

She had really changed in the few days that he'd known her and he didn't know how that was possible. The glow of her inner light was brighter and it was evident in her eyes, her smile, the simple way she carried herself. It was truly humbling.

But then, he had changed as well. He would rather not think of it, but his mind kept coming back to the feel of Angie's neck in his grasp and the rush of the illegal spell surging out of him. The satisfaction that he would never admit.

Again and again, Reece heard himself demanding the name from Angie and he heard her whispered response. His pulse quickened as he began imagining plans that he would carry out once he got back to Montreal. There was so much research to be done, discreet contacts to call, information to gather. This had to be done carefully, without the knowledge of his team or Alexandra.

She had been through enough. The images of her past flashed before his eyes, each one cutting through him like a blade. No, she shouldn't have to know, shouldn't have to worry about it as Reece worked. Maybe one day, after it was over, he would tell her what he'd done. But then again, maybe he wouldn't. If she could move on from the past, he simply had no right to inundate her with it again. It would be enough for him to keep the knowledge to himself, to know that her Maker would never hurt her or anyone else again.

He had the name. He had the resources to get it done. And he couldn't let it go.

Reece turned his gaze back to the road in front of him, so that Alexandra wouldn't see the hate in his eyes. He put the car in gear and pulled out into the traffic. He startled when he felt her hand on top of his. The soulmate link opened and the darkness in Reece faded away as if it were never there. It was only him, Lex, and the road ahead.


End file.
